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ON 

IMPORTANT SUBJECTS.- 

-/ *■ ■' " ■ • • 

ESSAY F|RST, 

ON THE TRUE DIVINITY OF 

JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OR, GOIT 

„ v- 4 ' 

ESSAY SECOND, 

ON THE 

Unalterable. Uove of God, 

As exemplified, in bearing with, feeling for y and healing Backsliders • 

ESSAY THIRD, 

ON THE 

OF BELIEVERS’ BJ1PTISM BY IMMERSION. 

WITH 

Sttmral JjJttcrs of ©rfjjfnal JJoetr,?. 


BY THOMAS LOUD. 


TO WHICH IS PREFIXED, 

An ACCOUNT OF GOD’S dealings with the author. 

And a' dedication of himself to God and his work . 

I also could speak as ye do, if your soul were in my soul’s stead. I eould heap up words 
against you, and shake mine head at you; but I would strengthen you with my mouth, 
and the moving of my lips should assuage your grief.—Job, xvi. 4 , 5 , 

BALTIMORE; 

PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR, BY B. EDES. 


1821 . 














> 




* 


4 


. *9 )*> 

>'J * 





T HE author of the following essays has no preten¬ 
sions to the advantages some suppose themselves to 
possess; by which, through the vanity of their own 
minds, and the fulsome adulations of their unthinking 
admirers, are often inflated with pride and egotism* 

But while he makes this concession, he does not 
think it needful, nor does he feel at all disposed, to 
make any disgusting apology for thus appearing be¬ 
fore the public.—He feels it to be his unalienable pri¬ 
vilege, even in a plain way, to say with Elihu, in the 
book of Job, “I also will show mine opinion.” Yet 
he hopes that, whatever oereuis uiuc may ue in style, 
in composition, or even grammar, that they are not 
of that description as to obscure the sense, much less 
to “darken counsel by words without knowledge,” 
and thereby expose a good cause (by defective plead¬ 
ing) to the scorn of scorners, and contempt of the 
contemptuous. 

I have not the vanity, nor am I so ignorant of 
mankind, as to suppose that the men of this world, 
or the wisdom of this world, will approbate what I 
have written; but as there are some men of plain, as 
well as others of refined understandings, most of whom 
can relish nothing but the polish of the schools, and 
the charms of elegant composition; while the former, 
if godly, have a true taste for spiritual wisdom, and 
can readily excuse rudeness in speech, so that the 
speaker, or writer, is not rude in knowledge, or a 
novice in divine things.—For the benefit of such, espe¬ 
cially, I have written;—plain men need, and plain men 
love plain truth. 




VI 


PREFACE. 


ly replete therewith. To this truth every one who 
knows the plague of his own heart, will readily sub¬ 
scribe, and say with Mr. Hart: 

Were not thy love as firm as free, 

Thou soon would’st take it, Lord, from me. 

In this essay there are some strong things advanc¬ 
ed,* but I feel a satisfactory and happy conviction, 
that I have not passed the line of demarcation mark¬ 
ed out by the divine word. And I hope and believe, 
that what is advanced will be found much to the be¬ 
nefit (through a divine unction and blessing) of those 
for whom especially it was drawn up; and I trust that 
what I have said is so guarded, that none but the 
whole hearted who are at ease in Zion, will find any 
thing of which they will be disposed seriously to find 
fault. That men who “know not what manner of 
spirit they are of,” should find materials for censure, 
will not surprise me; yeti feel confident I have taken 
no ground but what is tenable; but for such objectors, 
however, in this essay I did not write, except indeed 
to shew them by contrast, the emptiness of their pro¬ 
fession. 

But should such, or even any of the godly , who 
have much of the leaven of the Pharisees about them, 
be still disposed to object to any thing here advanced, 
my advice to such, or rather the command of Christ 
to such is, “Go and learn what this meaneth, I w ill 
have mercy and not sacrifice.” And I wish all such 
to consider the last clause as a command obligatory 
on them, as well as a gracious declaration from the 
mouth of God, of w hat he will do.—As a command it 
enjoins that such should not sacrifice the comfort and 
reputation of others on the altar of their self-righte¬ 
ousness, but rather exercise mercy towards them, 
“considering themselves also in the flesh,” and “bear 
each others burdens and so fulfil the law of Christ* 
who will have mercy on whom he will have mercy , 
and shew compassion to whom he will shew compas- 


PREFACE. 


vii 


sion;” even although, like the elder brother in the 
parable, some should complain that comparative ne¬ 
glect has been shewn to their superior correctness. 
“I never” (say such) “transgressed thy will at any 
time, yet thou never gavest me a kid.” What arro¬ 
gance! But the kind Father whose heart overflowed 
with parental tenderness, says, “it was meet that we 
should make merry, for this my son , was dead , and 
is alive , was lost, and is found .”—Go thou reader and 
do likewise. 

In the third and last essay, I have endeavored to 
state, elucidate and defend, a divinely instituted or¬ 
dinance of the church of Christ, or of the gospel dis¬ 
pensation, and so to meet and refute the arguments, 
and oppose the false reasonings of gainsay ers, as may 
help to inform and establish the weak and the waver¬ 
ing of the flock of Christ, and furnish them with that 
with which they may “answer those who trouble 
them;” and this I trust will be found to be the tenden¬ 
cy and happy effect of each and all of the following 
essays. 

What little I have done I endeavoured to do as well, 
that is, as correct as [ could, and it is no grief of heart 
to me, and I believe it will be no loss to my readers, 
that it is “not with excellency of speech, not with en¬ 
ticing words of man’s wisdom, not in the words 
i which man’s wisdom, teacheth,” but I trust it is in 
! those words “which the Holy Ghost teacheth.” 1 Cor. 
ii. 1.4. 13. thereby commending what I have wrote, 
not to the skittish and wayward fancy , but to the 
conscience of every man in the sight of God, by a 
manifestation of the truth. 

One thing has been scrupulously kept in view in 
these essays, namely, to state and defend the truth 
as it is in Christ, and to advocate a positive institu¬ 
tion of the head of the church, both as it respects the 
subject , the mode , and the design, in the words which 
the Holy Ghost teacheth, as much so, at least, as my 
acquaintance with, and recollection of, the lively ora- 




viii 


PREFACE. 


cles and the Spirit’s teaching, has enabled me, and 
I feel a satisfactory consciousness, that my object, in 
each attempt, lias been to promote the divine glory 
and human happiness, by pleading for truth, and by 
opposing error; and that in so doing I have adduced 
no passage of scripture, nor have I used any argu¬ 
ment, or adopted any mode of reasoning, to refute 
what 1 hold an error, or to establish what I believe 
to be truth, hut such as 1 verily believed bore directly 
on the subject under discussion; and I trust that a 
conviction of these facts in the perusal of these es¬ 
says, will pervade the minds of the readers. 

When a more than ordinary zeal is manifested, 
and talents of various grades are pressed into the 
service, of gross and dangerous errors , and of an un- 
scriptural practice, it behooves those who possess “one 
Faith ,” who confess “ one Lord ,” and who hold and 
practise (i one Baptism ,” and who profess generally 
a love for the simplicity of the gospel—a correct ad¬ 
ministration of gospel ordinances, “esteeming all 
God’s precepts concerning all things to he right,” and 
who hold it highly culpable, to “teach for doctrines 
the commandments of men.” It behooves all such, I 
say, under such circumstances, to endeavour to guard 
the fold of Christ against every innovation, every 
thing calculated to beguile the unwary, and sap the 
foundation of a poor sinner’s hope.—To accomplish 
such desirable ends, the following essays were pen¬ 
ned; and it is hoped that it will appear, on a fair and 
prayerful perusal, that the object aimed at, in the 
last essay in particular, is not to unchristian , hut to 
confute; not to reproach , but to convince; not to inflame 
with party zeal, hut to instruct , to encourage and to 
establish. 

As i am one of those who are unknown, yet well 
known, I have, contrary to my original intention, 
prefixed to these essays a very brief account of the 
way in which the Lord my God has led me. We 
are commanded to call it to mind, and if so, we may 


PREFACE. 


ix 


surely record it without just offence. The narrative 
must speak for itself, I will only say, it is as correct 
as my recollection will serve, so far as it goes.—I 
will, therefore, leave it and the dedication that ac¬ 
companies it, with the essays and myself, the unwor¬ 
thy author, in the hands of Him in whom T live, who 
hath said, “Acknowledge me in all thy ways, and I 
will direct thy paths.” 


THOMAS LOUD. 


/ 



God’s Dealings with the Author of the following Essays . 


The following brief narrative, or rather epitome, 
of God’s dealings with my soul, is with considerable 
reluctance submitted to the press, (among other rea¬ 
sons,) least l should be thought to obtrude that on my 
readers, in which they might judge themselves so re¬ 
motely, if at all, interested; and, also, least some might 
be disposed to charge me with egotism. To the last 
surmise, if such should exist, I will only observe, 
that what follows is not a statement of any thing done 
by me, but of what God has done for me; and there¬ 
fore the charge of egotism or self-praise must fall to 
the ground: and, as to my obtruding on my readers 
what they may, peradventure, judge of so little worth, 
I will only say, I shall be sorry the turning of a 
sinner from the error of his ways, and saving a soul 
from death,” should be of so small account in the eyes 
of any of my readers. However, should the apathy 
and indifference of the mass of professors be such as 
to preclude any pleasure or thankfulness, on reading 
such recitals of God’s sovereign mercy, we know that 
the angels in heaven, who can best appreciate the im¬ 
portance of such things, rejoice; and surely the most 
simple, happy and fruitful of God’s believing family, 
who are most solicitous for the spread of the Redeem¬ 
er’s kingdom, and the salvation of perishing sinners, 
will rejoice also—and while such narratives afford 
matter of thankfulness to those w ho have obtained (as 
the gift of God) like precious faith, in the righteous- 




12 


ness of God our Saviour, it may also be owned of God 
to some readers, to shew them that their religion is 
vain; that they have only a name to live, while, in 
truth, they are dead; and, farther, it may please a gra¬ 
cious God, by it to encourage some one patiently to 
wait, and quietly to hope for the salvation of God. 
We have, my readers, much superficial religion, and 
much superficial preaching, that has nothing in it 
which says to the awakened sinner, “this is the way, 
walk ye in it;” nothing to comfort those that mourn, 
to “succour the tempted, to lift up the hands that hang 
down, to confirm the feeble knees, to say to them that 
are of a fearful heart, be strong, thy God will come, 
and he will save thee.” And permit me here to add, 
that my fear is, that we shall have no small increase 
of such preaching, seeing churches, even Baptist 
churches, seem much disposed to set up schools, and 
look to schools for pastors, instead of looking directly 
to, and depending on the head of the church, the Lord 
of the harvest, who has promised pastors after his 
own heart. But, no; that would not comport with 
the spirit of the times—a man must now be an elo¬ 
quent man, and an orator, a “master of plausible 
speech;” though very many, yea, almost all school- 
bred preachers are (with all their acquirements and 
self-importance) mere babes, to say the best, in spir¬ 
itual knowledge, and apparently almost total stran¬ 
gers to experimental theology; while the scribe, well 
instructed into the kingdom of God, is slighted, and 
though (^professedly) highly esteemed as a brother, 
not allowed the use of a pulpit. These things ought 
not thus to be; it is contrary to the genius of the gos¬ 
pel, dishonorable to the Redeemer, and detrimental 
to the household of faith: and, before I return from 
this digression, which was altogether unintentional, I 
must be permitted to add, that the practice above al¬ 
luded to, involves in it the prostitution, in some cases, 
of the finest talents, and much waste of valuable time, 
that ought to be devoted to the more immediate service 


13 


of the sanctuary; and in addition to that, much trea¬ 
sure is wasted in stipends, and too frequently in the 
support of idle boys, (called pious youths,) that might 
much better he employed in erecting neat and com¬ 
modious places of worship, and frugally supporting 
those whom God has called, and will yet call into the 
ministry, making his own selection, as he sees good, 
from among the learned and the unlearned, without 
the aid of colleges. Let it not be supposed that 1 ad¬ 
vocate ignorance—T detest it in a pulpit; but many un¬ 
learned men are wise in the things of God; much more 
so than some of their learned rivals—Nor let it be sup¬ 
posed, that L would cast a slight on acquired know¬ 
ledge—I admire it in its place; but what I mean this 
philippic to bear on, and what I mean to censure, is the 
trade of parson making , and what is closely allied to 
it, the trade of preaching; and were I to indulge my 
own feelings, 1 should not stop here, for much more 
might be said on the subject, even by me; for I have 
seen much, heard much, and observed much, very cen¬ 
surable in the practice now inveighed against—but I 
must return to that which is more immediately before 
me. I have already supposed some instances of use¬ 
fulness to result, from the narrative to follow these pre¬ 
liminary remarks; such as thankfulness to God, warn¬ 
ing to the superficial professor, and encouragement to 
the honest seeker, ‘who is enquiring the way to Zion 
w ith his face thitherward.” I will now add, that, 
peracventure, it may dispose some to say, “Why per¬ 
secute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found 
in him.” It w ill not he denied, hut that many of the 
children of God, have left their experience on record, 
not for their own praise, (for in truth it has often 
been to their dispraise,) but for the honor of God, and 
the benefit of men: but it may be objected, that they 
w ere men of eminence, and occupied conspicuous sta¬ 
tions in the church, and that the reverse is my case; 
(this is only true in part.) Whatever they were, it was 
by the grace of God, that they were what they were; 

B 



14 


they had nothing but what they had received. In 
whatever, therefore, they mav have differed fi t m me, 
they had nothing to boast of, (though too many have 
boasted, and do boast,) fora man can receive nothing, 
worth his having, except it be given him from heaven, 
and God giveth his gifts to every man, severally as he 
will, so that “lie who gathereth much hath nothing 
over, and he that gathereth little hath no lack.” 
Should any be disposed to despise, or even reproach, 
I hope I shall not be greatly moved—but, on the other 
hand, should it be rendered useful, through the bless¬ 
ing of God, for any of the objects I have before stat¬ 
ed. I hope I shall be thankful, and that God, who re¬ 
membered me in my low estate, and who doth still 
remember me, will be honored. 

Having premised thus much, I shall proceed, in the 
language of the Psalmist, to say, **Corm- ho her all 
ye that fear God , and I will tell you what he hath done 
for my 8001 .” 

After the lapse of near forty years, I find it to be 
somewhat difficult to ascertain and state with correct¬ 
ness, the precise time when , and the particular cir¬ 
cumstance by which my attention was first excited to 
the all-important concerns of the soul; by what it was 
and when it was, that I was first stirred up to regard 
the things that make for peace. 1 need hardly say 
that my former life was “according to the course of 
this world, according to the prince of the power of 
the air, the spirit that now worketh in the hearts of 
the children of disobedience.” 

Being left very young destitute of parental restraint, 
and grossly neglected in my apprenticeship, l pursu¬ 
ed the corrupt inclination of a depraved heart, and 
fell under the influence of wicked example, to the full 
extent that means and years permitted. But God, 
who watched over me for good, and preserved me in 
Christ, from destruction, while l was avowedly his 
enemy, was pleased to make me feel something of the 
fruit of my doings, by suffering me to be entangled, 1 


15 


u ill not say by the trammels of justice, but by those of 
in justii e. 1 mean the Impress laws of Great Britain; 
through which I became an inhabitant of an English 
mar. of war, which, to say the least of, is an awful 
school of vice; (though 1 believe that the public ships 
of some nations are, if possible, much worse, where 
crimes of the worst character are almost licensed, 
that would be punished with death in an English or 
American ship of war.) But, to return: after suffer¬ 
ing much in circumstances so dissimilar to my former 
habits, I became a prisoner of war, in the town of 
Trenton, New-Jersey, in the year 1782, where 1 had 
some very serious convictions of sin, occasioned by 
visits paid to two poor men in the same prison under 
sentence of death, (who were mercifully reprieved un¬ 
der the gallows.) I felt myself to be far more misera¬ 
ble than they appeared to be, and had it been possible, 
would gladly have stood in their place, as they appear¬ 
ed to cherish a lively and happy hope, that their sins 
were forgiven, and an expectation of being received in¬ 
to everlasting rest, while I was the subject of a fearful 
looking for of judgment: but, though I can hardly 
think that my convictions were of a spiritual nature, 
or such as constitute the beginnings of a good w ork 
of grace—yet I did not entirely lose them, in the 
midst of much wickedness, in myself and my compan¬ 
ions in captivity; and when 1 was exchanged, and re¬ 
stored to my native country, (which took place in the 
spring of 1783,) 1 was induced, from what I had been led 
to discover of my sins, to frequent the church much more 
than is usual with men in such circumstances. The 
love of sin strove successfully to lead me to the com¬ 
mission of much evil, and the fear of wrath dragged 
me to pay some occasional attention to the form of 
godliness, though only the form, without the power, 
both in myself and those among whom I generally met. 
But that God who worketh all things after the counsel 
of his own will, and brings about his designs of mer¬ 
ry by what means and circumstances he pleases, was 


pleased so to order it, that, being* in company with 
some fellow workmen who were professors of religion, 
in the latter end of 1783, I heard them conversing 
about a Mr. Romaine, who they spoke so highly of, 
that (under my then exercises,') 1 was induced to make 
an appointment to g > and hear him on the next Lord’s 
day: and I found him to he as they described him, 
and, to speak in their language, “a wonderful man;” 
for even then, blind as 1 was, 1 discovered something 
in his preaching suited to my case; for I had been led 
to discover enough, as 1 have already premised, to con¬ 
vince me that I was in many, very many things, a 
foul sinner—though as to the depravity of my nature, 
I had no just conception of it, (any more than 1 had 
of the way of life;) the fountain of the great deep, (so 
to speak) was not broken up—I knew not the plague 
of my heart, and thought reformation was in my own 
power, and vainly judged that was sufficient, though 
I could make no progress in breaking off my sins by 
righteousness, though I strove, and strove hard, to 
accomplish it. But headstrong lusts are not thus to be 
tamed; inveterate disease is not thus to he cured; a 
deep seated leprosy is not thus to he eradicated; 

“For the more I strove against their power, 

I sinn’d and stumbled but the more.” 

But now under the gospel, as preached by Mr. Ro¬ 
maine, God was pleased to make known to me what 
before I was a stranger to; and, strange to tell, though 
I felt as if I were tormented before my time, yet 1 
was constrained to go again, and again, though I felt 
things to get worse and worse with me; so that with 
increasing pain, 1 was made to feel, as well as see, that 
all I did, or said, or thought, was sinful, exceeding 
sinful, and that the heart, tlie fountain, the spring of 
all action, was corrupt, deceitful above all things, 
and desperately wicked. Resolutions, vows, oaths, 
and efforts of every description were vain. 1 have, 
under this confusion of mind and distress of soul. 




even partook of the memorials ol‘ (he Lord’s death; 
thinking, that, surely that would he an effectual 
preventive of sin. But no—all was as weak as a 
rope of sand, and under these feelings of depravity 
and accumulated guilt, I became a Missibab, a.terror 
round about, a terror to myself. The glory and great¬ 
ness of God as displayed in the visible heavens, has 
oft appalled my heart, and made it sink, as lead-in the 
mighty waters. And though I did not say in the 
morning, would God it were night, (for I dreaded the 
night,) yet I truly said at night, would God it were 
morning, for I dreaded to close my eyes in sleep, lest 
the pit of hell should shut its mouth upon me, and oft¬ 
en when I awoke I have been surprised to a degree l 
cannot now express, that i was out of hell; and so 
horribly keen were the forebodings of misery, that 
1 have, if it be possible, wished to know the worst, 
thinking either that hell was not so intolerable as I 
apprehended, or that 1 should be strong to suffer, as 
to do, (as Milton has it) and in this state of mind, 
while all refuge failed me, no eye seemed to pity, nor 
band appeared to help me, friends and acquaint¬ 
ance stood aloof from my sore indeed. These dis¬ 
tressing* exercises, more or less fearful and appalling, 
under the heaviness of which my heart stooped, were 
continued somewhere about two years, and though my 
soul was most earnestly hungering and thirsting after 
righteousness, and exceedingly diligent, from a dis¬ 
tressing sense of need, in seeking by all means for 
a way of escape from the stormy wind and tempest, 
and although that way was clearly pourtrayed be¬ 
fore mein a very able and luminous gospel ministry, 
yet it was in a great degree bid from my eyes. The 
power of grievous temptations, the prevalence of 
strong corruptions, and the blind legality of my 
mind! together with the baneful influence of legal 
preaching and legal reading, (for I resorted to every 
thing and ran every where for help;) and among the 
many things I then read was a book intitled Allen's 
B2 


18 


Mann, and another called Baxter’s Cali to the Un¬ 
converted. These works, as I then felt, and do now ve¬ 
rily believe, are more calculated to drive a sinner to 
desperation and suicide, than to lead the soul to 
Christ, which certainly they never did as means ac¬ 
complish, any more than the Whole Duty of Man, 
Thomas A. Kempis’s Imitation of Christ, falsely so 
called, or the Alcoran of Mahomed; these things, 
connected with the great disadvantage of having no 
one to converse with who seemed to know any thing 
of the way in which I was led, made me of necessity 
“sit alone and keep silence, and put my mouth in the 
dust, if so be there might be hope.” I saw and felt, 
what I doubt but few feel, namely, an end to all per¬ 
fection in myself, and I also saw and felt that the 
commands of God were exceeding broad; but in the 
midst of all this distress and confusion of mind, de¬ 
pravity of heart, and temptations of Satan, I had now 
and then a ray of light under the word break in upon 
my mind that gave such views of the way of peace, 
as for the moment made my heart glad and leap for 
joy: but these favoured times were short and confused; 
they were the joys of a budding hope rather than pos¬ 
session—discoveries of the possibility of being saved, 
rather than a belief that I should be saved. But 
that God who was leading a blind sinner in a way 
that he did not know, and who was making me come 
after him in chains, was pleased, by slow degrees, 
to make darkness.light before me, and crooked things 
straight; but hope deferred did in very deed make my 
heart sick. The racking anxiety—the tormenting 
apprehensions—the corroding doubts and fears that 
are endured under such exercises, no tongue can tell, 
no heart conceive, but the heart of those who are exer¬ 
cised therewith; but I am happy to have to relate, that 
several times about this period God was in mercy pleas¬ 
ed under the ministry of a Mr. Johnson, a Church of 
England clergyman, but a man of truth, to give me 
to see some of the marks and evidences of the new 
birth; a subject on which he long dwelt, but they were 


19 


but glimmerings of light that soon vanished, and 
were succeeded by doubts and fears of the most dis¬ 
tressing character, so that I often resolved that I 
would not hear him any more on the subject; but when 
Lord’s day returned my resolves gave way, and I 
was, as it were, led by an invisible hand to hear him 
again. The preaching also of a Mr. Foster, another 
Episcopal gospel minister, was very much blessed to 
me. by keeping alive my desires and encouraging my 
hopes, particularly under a discourse from these 
words: “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst 
after righteousness, for they shall he filled.” The 
characteristics described I believed I was the subject of, 
and 1 had a flattering hope that the promise would 
be fulfilled in me; but even yet hopes were very tran¬ 
sient and feeble, and fears strong and almost per- 
minent; and while I was passing through these trou¬ 
bled waters. I think in the spring of 1786, 1 had a 
dream of rather a singular nature, and as it was not 
without effect on my mind, I shall make free to relate 
it, although I am fully aware that many are disposed 
to treat such things and the relators of them, with 
something like contempt. But when I. consider that 
some of the best and wisest of men have not scrupled 
to record some particular dreams, John Bunyan not 
the least among them, and especially when 1 read in 
the book of Job, that “God speaketh once, yea twice 
to man, in a dream, when deep sleep falleth upon 
men, in slumbering on their beds, then he openeth their 
ears and sealeth their instruction:” When I consider 
these things, and also the many instances recorded 
in scripture, where ordinary men have had dreams 
of singular import, and sometimes had them inter¬ 
preted by the servants of God, 1 feel fully justified in 
the relation of mine, which, as near as I can now re¬ 
collect, was as follows. 

I dreamed that I was sitting with the woman I 
kept company with, close by a long lake of water 
that extended beyond view r along the foot of a very 
steep hill, rising from the horizon at least at the an^ 




gle of forty-five degrees, on the top of this hill stood 
a man inviting me up, and his invitation excited in 
me an ardent desire to ascend; but [ greatly feared the 
attempt, for if [ should slip destruction appeared in¬ 
evitable, as I must of necessity roll into and perish in 
the lake at the bottom, and I much wished that I had 
long spikes in my shoes, to prevent the much dreaded 
accident; hut while these Were the cogitations ot my 
mind, 1 thought that the “power of God would not 
suiter me to fall;” this thought so encouraged me 
that I immediately made the attempt, taking great 
care every step, to insert my foot firmly in the earth, 
and the path on which I had to ascend, went in an 
oblique direction, by which the difficulty of ascent w as 
greatly lessened; and with this precaution and advan¬ 
tage, I arrived safely, and much sooner than I ex¬ 
pected, on the summit of the hill: along which ran a 
level margin of a few yards width. The man whom 1 
had seep from the bottom, and who invited me up, 
stood heire, and two others, and w aving his right hand, 
lie says, “behold the beauty of the promised land;” 
and looking, I saw before me a large quantity of fresh 
plowed land, thrown up into small hills of considera¬ 
ble elevation; between w hich ran beautiful streams of 
water, intersecting with each other, w hich the man 
told me were to water the land, that it might bring 
forth its fruit plentifully. Before us was a kind of 
boundary w all, and, I think, a small ditch, over which 
he handed me into the promised land. On the inside 
of the wall, close by where we entered, was a deep 
and dark cavern, the descent into which was almost 
perpendicular—the man, my guide, charged me to 
bew are of it; for, he said, it was the devil’s pit; and 
when he saw me alarmed, (for 1 stood, as it were, on 
its crumbling verge,) he encouraged me not to be 
afraid, for that the devil would he destroyed soon. 
After I had been some time with my guide, and the 
other two, surveying the promised land, the woman , 
who I had left at the bottom of the hill, on the verge 


21 


of the lake, appeared on the summit and chided me 
for my stay, i then attempted to come out, but my 
guide prevented, and brought me a book, in which 
I was to write my name among very many others. I 
did so, and when I wrote it, it struck me as very sin¬ 
gular, that instead of being wrote with ink, it was 
wrote with blood. Against every name a very small 
sum of money was set, w hich I understood to be the 
perquisites of those w ho shew ed the place. I then put 
as large a sum as any I saw, to my name, and paid 
the cash, and then made the second attempt to egress, 
but was again stopped by my attentive guide, who 
said he would give me something to keep in remem¬ 
brance of the place: so saying, he fetched me a large 
bough of evergreen, myrtle, or box, apparently, which 
he called Isthmus. I asked him if it was the Isthmus 
recorded in scripture—he replied it w as. I then again 
attempted, and w as permitted to come out; £tnd 1 gave 
the bough of evergreen into the hand of the woman 
who w r as waiting for me, and immediately about half 
of the bough drooped exceedingly—we then, in com¬ 
pany, walked about a large field, in which we then 
appeared to be, and at different places we saw several 
traps, made of oak, for catching game; and what struck 
me in my dream, was the singular circumstance that 
none of them had the fall, or tumbler, which is intend¬ 
ed to secure the prey. 

After this I had lost the woman, and found myself 
in company with two men, waikingalong a road which 
had high banks on its sides. After travelling some 
time, wc came to a rather singular appearance in the 
hank, somew hat analagous to w hat foxes make. One 
of the men said, that was the devil's house; and direct¬ 
ly opposite w as, as it were, the remains of a fortifica¬ 
tion, o!' breast work, which appeared to be beaten down 
to tw o or three feet high. One of the men exclaimed, 
“that is the devil's battery .” I immediately asked, 
who w ould first storm the fort—and one of the men 
instantly leaped the wall, and 1 next followed: and 




when \ye had entered this supposed fort, there stood a 
considerable number in a row of the same kind of traps 
J had seen before, and they were in the same incom¬ 
plete and inefficient state; that is, they had no tum¬ 
blers; consequently, incapable of holding the prey. 
On seeing such a number, I exclaimed, with some 
emotion, “Surely, this is a trap maun factory *'—and 
after some more observations in this place, which es¬ 
caped my memory, we appeared to walk into the ad¬ 
joining lands, which were very woody; and I awoke, 
and so much was my mind impressed with this dream, 
that I directly jumped out of bed and wrote it down, 
but the copy has been many years lost—yet the sub¬ 
stance, I believe, will never be erased from my mind. 
I shall make no observations on it; but leave my read¬ 
ers to make their own reflections, and proceed with 
my narrative, by observing, that some parts of the 
wor ks of Mr. John Bunyan, (the venerable arid well 
taught author of the Pilgrim’s Progress,) were made of 
special service to me; and particularly his treatise 
entitled, “The Doctrines of Law and Grace unfold¬ 
ed,” mid his tract called, “Grace abounding to the 
Chief of Sinners,” the mere title of which made my 
heart bound with hope, and its contents, which are a 
relation of his own experience, gave me much instruc¬ 
tion and great encouragement: but. though 1 received 
much benefit from the sources I have named, I believe 
the preaching of Mr. Romaine, (a master in Israel 
and a scribe well instructed,) was more owned of 
God than all other means. 

in his ministry, the ruined state of sinners, the 
fulness and sufficiency of the Saviour, as Lord of all 
by whom he preached peace, and the sovereign free- 
ncss of divine grace, together with the indispensable 
and irresistible agency of the holy spirit, and the ex¬ 
ercises of the poor sinner in passing from death to life, 
were constantly and ably set forth; and God blessed 
his labors to many, very many, and, I trust, to me 
also, though I am nothing, and worse than nothing. 


the chief of sinners: and as his labors were frequent¬ 
ly blessed to im, s«* as to cause a lively hope, (1 trust 
a good hope, through grace,) to spring up in my 
heart. He seldom preached, in season or out of sea¬ 
son, hut I was glad to embrace the opportunity to 
hear him; and on Good Friday morning, 1786, I was 
more sensibly favored than ever before, under a dis¬ 
course on the Crucifixion of Christ, whose name bad 
now become to me as ointment poured forth, and I 
loved him with my whole heart, and ran about the 
streets of London in the afternoon, to find some 
preaching, thinking that the bare mention of his name, 
would increase my joy in the Lord. But 1 had not 
the happiness of hearing another sermon until night, 
when Mr. Foster (before named.) spoke from the 
words of the Psalmist, “The redemption of the soul 
is precious, it ceaseth forever”—under which dis¬ 
course I was much instructed on the important subject 
of redemption: but not so happy as in the morning; 
nor was 1 for several weeks after, though 1 followed 
hard after him who was powerfully drawing me “with 
the cords of love, as w ith the bands of a man.” But 
on the Thursday week before Whitsunday, I was most 
happily visited with the plenitude of divine compas¬ 
sion, under a rich gospel discourse, preached by Mr. 
Romaine, from those sweet and all interesting words 
in John—“1 ascend to my Father , and to your Father; 
to my God , and to your God.” Under that never to 
he forgotten sermon, the spirit of Grid, in mercy, so 
applied the truth preached, that I was brought fully 
into the liberty of the gospel. Faith, as the gift of 
God, came by hearing, even faith in him of whom I 
heard, so that my sins were removed, and my interest 
in a precious Almighty Saviour, who saved me to the 
uttermost, (/com the uttermost guilt and wretched¬ 
ness,) and my relationship to my heavenly Father, 
was happily made known, believed, and rejoiced in, 
for that continuance, and in that degree, which before 
1 was a stranger to. I seemed now to have nothing 




24 


to ask for, (comparatively speaking:)—my cup of joy 
ran over—all was peace, joy, thanksgiving and praise. 
Before this, the tiling'I hoped for being deferred, 
made my heart sick, and 1 had long and often poured 
oat my complaints with groanings, that could not he 
uttered, and had often been driven from my knees by 
the force of inward terror, and an awful apprehension 
and conception of diabolical presence. But now, what 
1 had long and ardently desired, was com?, and it was, 
in truth, a tree of life; for my soul did indeed magnify 
the Lord, and my spirit rejoiced in God, my Saviour; 
and, as before, the glory of the visible heavens did 
appal my soul, so now, more than once, in a certain 
indescribable happy revery, I have anxiously watch¬ 
ed fortiie opening of tl»e heavens, and the second ap¬ 
pearing of my Lord, who was dearer to me than life. 
Indeed, in a certain sense, life had lost its value, and 
[ often regretted that l was a young man, and was 
ready to envy those who, either by old age or invet¬ 
erate disease, seemed tottering on the grave, and, as 
it were, ready to launch away to that land where the 
great, glorious and precious Saviour of the lost is 
seen as he is, and the emanations of infinite felicity 
from Lis fulness, and the beatific contemplation of his 
uncreated glory,, enjoyed without alloy—without a 
cloud, and without a period. 

And although, alter this, 1 had short intervals of 
misgivings, and even sometimes my life hung in doubt 
before me, on account of the striving and working of 
corruptions, v\hH> I expected had been all dead, to 
rise no more. Yet, nevertheless, generally speaking, 
I was happy in Christ, believing’that I should not die 
but live and the good spirit of God was pleas* - d, 
gradually, to establish me in the faith, an open my 
understands:to comprehend the way of life, and to 
know wi . a degree of clearness, that truth , by which 
1 had been made free, though my knowledge of it when l 
was made free by it, was rude and circumscribed: hut 
this growing in knowledge, or progressive illumina- 


25 


tion, was a slow work—I felt much, but knew but lit¬ 
tle; yet the leaven of grace and truth worked—the 
grain of mustard seed grew in a diligent and happy 
use of the means of grace, until my Christian friends, 
who were then numerous and intelligent, became cla¬ 
morous in urging me, and perseveringly solicitous to 
introduce me into public and useful life. What were 
the exercises of my mind, and what was the result of 
seven years earnest and continued importunity, I do 
not feel myself called on, nor disposed, at present, to 
delineate. But, perhaps, some may think, (if it was 
so,) their partial preference was ill judged, and did 
but flatter my vanity. Permit me to say, as to the 
last particular, I know the reverse—but be it so; that 
I was then flattered, I have had enough of late years 
to mortify my vanity, (if I am the subject of it) in 
being as a lamp despised in the thoughts of those that 
are at ease. I am content, or, at least, I desire so to 
be; for why should a. living man complain—a man for 
the punishment of his sins; and, I hope, 1 have not 
quite forgotten the proverb that speaketh unto mourn¬ 
ers as to children: “My son, despise not thou the 
chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art re¬ 
buked of him, for whom the Lord loveth he chasten- 
eth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” 
But here I am constrained to take up a lamentation, 
and say, would to God those happy, lively, humble 
and useful days, which were enjoyed for more than 
twenty years, had lasted even till now. But no, alas! 
that has not been my happiness. I have too just oc¬ 
casion to lament my unfruitfulness, and with one of 
old to say, my leanness, my leanness, woe unto me. 
“The heart, however, knowetli its own bitterness, (in 
declensions) and a stranger doth not intermeddle with 
its joys’' when grace reigns; often had I to use the lan¬ 
guage of the apostle, and say, “O! wretched man that 
I am, who shall deliver me;” and I trust it has also 
often been my privilege to add, even in deep waters, 
“1 thank God, through Jesus Christ my Lord;” so 
C 


26 


that I trust “I shall not die, but live.” But, oh! the 
unfeeling scorning of those that are at ease!—the 
wicked triumph of the Philistines, who shout loud 
enough to be heard, “aha, aha, so would we have it. 
An evil disease cleaveth fast to him, and now that he 
is down he shall rise no more. But they know not the 
thoughts of the Lord—neither understand they his 
counsel—for he lifteth up those that fall. The Lord 
looseth the prisoners!” Yes, and taketh delight to 
shew himself rich in mercy to all that cal! upon 
him, because he delighteth in mercy, and knoweth 
v\hereof we are made, and remembereth that we are 
but dust, so that however tried we are not forsak¬ 
en, often cast down but never destroyed, so that, 
though I am constrained to take up Mr. Hart’s lan¬ 
guage and say, “from sinner and from saint I meet 
with many a blow;” and although “my own bad heart 
creates me smart, which none but God doth know,” 
or can know ; yet “remembering the wormwood and 
the gall, my soul hath them still in remembrance, and 
is humbled in me, therefore have I hope—and [ trust 
it is my privilege to add with David, “this is my com¬ 
fort in my affliction, for thy word hath quickened 
me;” and having the same spirit of faith, I will farther 
add with the Psalmist, “let them curse, but bless thou.” 
For surely God hath, in my case, as w ell as in many 
thousands, “chosen the base things of the world, and 
things that are not,” (of any value in the eyes of the 
world,) “hath God chosen to bring to nought things 
that are,” (in high esteem w ith men,) for this gracious 
and all important end; an end that God never loses 
sight of in any of his gracious dispensations, namely, 
“that no flesh should glory in his presence.” 

And however men (whether wicked men or mistak¬ 
en good men) may be disposed to despise, 1 know 
from the divine testimony and from happy experience, 
that “a broken and contrite spirit God will not des¬ 
pise”—“for he hath not despised nor abhorred the 
affliction of the afflicted^” nor will he ever do it, though 


27 


he might justly do so, as all affliction is, in some way 
or other, the fruit of evil doing: but, instead of deal¬ 
ing with deserved severity, “when the afflicted crieth 
he heareth him;” and in a thousand instances, as well 
as in my case says, “I have seen his ways and will 
heal him; 1 will lead him also, and restore comfort to 
him, and to his mourners”— not his accusers — not his 
mockers; but his mourners. Such as can, and do 
sympathise with, and pray for, and “treat not as an 
enemy, but admonish as a brother,” the tempted and 
fallen. Such God will make participators in the com¬ 
forts of the restored. These are a part of his ways, 
"who delighteth to multiply, to pardon, and to pass by 
the transgressions of the remnant of his heritage;” 
and who is he that will dare to “say to the Almighty, 
what dost thou”—“he that repliest against God, let 
him answer it.” But I will subjoin (as I oft have 
done) the Psalmist’s petition, and say, “restore to me 
(more fully) the joys of thy salvation”—and, I trust, I 
feel equally disposed to add, “uphold me with thy free 
spirit”—and I must be permitted yet farther to add, 
in his language, and, I trust, with equal propriety, 
“then will I, (w hen thou hast enlarged my heart, and 
healed the bones thou hast broken,) then will I teach 
transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be convert¬ 
ed unto thee.” Amen, and amen; and let not the proud 
and the self-righteous chafe, while I add, So be it .— 
The Lord God of king David, the God of Israel, say 
amen, too. 

Now Lord, to thee, my Saviour and my God, 
Myself, and all I have, 1 dedicate. 

Oh, take me as I am, though weak and vile, 

And fashion me beneath thy forming hand, 

(If thou see good,; to favour and promote, 

As heretofore I’ve done, thy righteous cause, 

To spread thy holy truth and wondrous fame. 

But, old forbid that ever I should shun 
Thy truth to speak, and counsel to declare, 


28 


As many do, to please poor dying men, 

And keep back that which would their pride ohend, 
And shew, thereby, they seek not t/iem, but theirs. 

But, oh! my Lord, do thou thy dust instruct, 

To warn the wicked of thy wrath to come, 

And point the guilty to thy cleansing blood: 

To preach forgiveness in thy saving name, 

And shew that in thy righteousness divine, 
Believing souls are freely justified, 

From all the things thy righteous law condemns* 

And thereby gather in as own’d of thee, 

Thy chosen seed, to serve thee as their king. 

To feed thy sheep and lambs beloved of thee, 

And strengthen feeble knees, and lift the hand* 
That, in desponding fear, hang feebly down. 

To succour instrumentally the souls 
Whom Satan tempts, to sin or to despair. 

To say to such as seem disposed to turn 
To the right hand, or to the left—Behold 
The good old way; the footsteps of the flock, 

And walk therein —beside the shepherds tents— 

So shall your weary souls find rest in God! 

To seek the wanderers from thy fold, and strive 
As under-shepherd in thy hand, to bring 
Them back to thee to taste forgiving love, 

And dwell beneath the shadow of thy wings. 

So shall thy name, my Lord, be magnified, 

And sinners lost, be to the utmost saved! 

Oh! open thou a door, which none can shut, 

And say, “My servant enter in and occupy 
Until I come, and faithful do my work—• 

The work of an Evangelist; and give 
Full proof to all thy min’stry is from me/ 5 

So speak, my Saviour God, thy servant liears- 
And prays for grace and strength to do thy will, 
And wisdom from above, his way to guide: 

And while thy cause before thy foes he pleads, 
From scourge of tongues unhallovv’d him defend. 


29 


Thy word, as fire in his bones, thou knowest 
Is often felt, and fain he’d pour it out abroad; 

But patient wait my soul, and watch his leading hand. 

Yet, while with warm solicitude I wait 
To know thy will, I cannot help but pray. 

Let not my lamp in dark obscurity go out, 

Nor let my talents (be they what they may,) 

Lie useless by, as in a napkin hid. 

From thee, my gracious Lord, and not from men 
They came—and to thy praise I’d them devote. 

So shall the savor of thy name be spread, 

And my last days, my God, shall be my best! 







• ' . . f : - »•; ■ . • ‘ • 

















■ ■ v ' . . 


. 


' 










































“Who is over all God blessed forever, amen.” —Rom. ix. 5. 


T he object of the following essay, is to illustrate 
and establish the words I have chosen for a motto; 
which are taken from the Epistle of Paul to the Ro¬ 
mans, ch. ix. v. 5. last clause. fVho is over all , God 
blessed for ever, Amen . 

In the preceding verse, and first clause of this, the 
apostle has been describing the character and privi¬ 
leges of his brethren, his kinsmen, according to the 
flesh, of whom he thus speaks, -Who are Israelites?” 
But “what advantage hath an Israelite?” it may be 
asked;—“much every way, chiefly because that unto 
them were committed the oracles of God.” The 
great object of which oracles, was to develope the 
Divine character, his will . and conduct , towards 
his creature man. His character , “Hear, 0 Israel, 
the Lord thy God, is one Lord.” His will , “Thou 
shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt 
thou serve.” His conduct> “1 will have mercy on 



32 On the Divinity of Christ. 

whom I will have mercy. I will have compassion 
on whom I will have compassion.” “The Lord, gra- 
cious and merciful, slow to anger, abundant in good¬ 
ness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression and 
sin; and who will, by no means clear the guilty ” 
The object of the divine oracles, as committed to the 
Jews, was also to show man bis own real character, 
situation, and relationship to God, as a subject ,of his 
moral government, and a daring and ruined trans¬ 
gressor of bis law. “The law entered that the of¬ 
fence might abound.” Rom. v. 20. “That sin, by 
the commandment, might become exceeding sinful.” 
Rom. vii. 13. A farther object of the divine oracles, 
as thus delivered, was to display before fallen and ru¬ 
ined men, the exercise of divine compassion in de¬ 
vising , executing , and revealing a way, in and 
through which, the election of grace, lost in Adam 
and in themselves; but chosen in Christ before the 
foundation of the world, and in him blessed with all 
spiritual blessing. To show, I say; bow these apos¬ 
tates, “children of wrath even as others,” might be 
deliv ered from goingdown into the pit, and be brought 
back to that God from whom they had deeply revolt¬ 
ed, that they might taste and enjoy those blessings 
treasured up for them in Christ Jesus, and worship 
and serve the Lord in the beauty of holiness. In 
farther tracing the privileges of God’s ancient peo¬ 
ple the Jews, the apostle observes, that “to them also 
pertaineth the adoption.” As a nation, distinct 
from all other nations, though the fewest of all 
people, and a stiff-necked and perverse people, yet 
the Lord was pleased to adopt them to be a people to 
his name, the repositories of his oracles and ordinan¬ 
ces, as he further notices, “and the glory, and the 
covenants, and the giving of the law, and the ser¬ 
vice of God, and the promises.” These all, at that 
day, pertained to, and were bestowed on that favour¬ 
ed people; for these great and all interesting favours 
had not then been bestowed on any others, nor were 


On the Divinity of Christ . 33 

they, until the middle wall of partition was. broken 
down, when the seed came, to whom all the service 
and ceremonies then in use pointed; of whom, in 
whom, and to whom, the promises were made. In 
farther unfolding the advantages that the Israelites 
had, above all people that dwelt on the face of the 
earth, he speaks thus: “Whose are the Father’s.” 
This was no small privilege, to be the descendants of 
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and all the eminent and 
godly that succeeded them; very many favours accru¬ 
ed to the Israelites on that account. But the dignity 
and importance of their privileges is greatly enhan¬ 
ced in the following clause: “Of whom, as concerning 
the Jiesh , Christ came.” That was the climax of 
their honor and happiness; but it must here be parti¬ 
cularly noticed, and always remembered, that the 
Jewish Fathers had no claim to the high and distin¬ 
guishing honor of being the progenitors of Christ, 
farther than regarded his human nature, for thus it 
reads: “Of whom, as concerning the Jle»h 9 Christ 
came.” Observe these striking, distribute and dis¬ 
tinguishing terms: concerning the Jiesh. 19 Terms 

that are evidently designed to mark an important dis¬ 
tinction between his human and divine nature, be¬ 
tween David’s Son and David’s Lord.” “The Lord 
said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand, until 
I make thine enemies thy footstool.” Now if David 
in spirit called him Lord, how is he then his Son?” 
No man can answer the question, but as the words 
before us furnish an answer.—“As concerning the 
flesh,” or as respects the flesh, in that sense, Christ 
came of the Fathers of the Jewish nation. In that 
sense, and that only, he was the seed of Abraham, 
the son of David, “his righteous branch; 1 but he was 
David’s Lord also, the root as well as the offspring 
of David. “But be astonished, 0 heavens, and won¬ 
der, O earth; because the children were partakers of 
flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of 
the same.” 0 wonderful love! “the word was made 


34 


On the Divinity of Christ. 

flesh and dwelt among us.” “The wisdom of God 
in a mystery,” the greatest of all mysteries, the mys¬ 
tery of godliness; “Without controversy, great is the 
mystery of godliness;” but what is that mystery 
which overwhelms with its magnitude and grandeur, 
the apostolic mind, and challenges, as it were, the 
language of inspiration to unfold it? it was this:— 
“God was manifest in the flesh.” God, as manifest 
in the flesh, was “justified in the spirit.” “God was 
seen of angels.” 0, wonderful sight! they indeed 
“beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten 
of the Father, full of grace and truth;” and not only 
didtiiey see him, but they worshipped him agreeably 
to the mandate of heaven, “Let all the angels of God 
worship him.” “God, as manifest in the flesh, was 
preached unto the Gentiles;” yes, verily, he that was 
preached unto the Gentiles, and in whom the Gen¬ 
tiles are encouraged to trust, was God. Atid faith 
came by hearing, for God incarnate, who was preach¬ 
ed, and blessed be God, is still preached unto the Gen¬ 
tiles, was “believed on in the world;” and when he 
had made an end of sin, finished transgression, and 
brought in an everlasting righteousness, spoiled prin¬ 
cipalities and powers, and made a show of them open¬ 
ly, and triumphed over death and the grave. Then, 
as a great conqueror, “the Lord of Hosts, mighty in 
battle,” hegloriously ascended, leading captivity cap¬ 
tive, and was “received up into glory.” Thus He, 
“who was made of the seed of David, according to 
the flesh, and (afterwards) declared to be the Son of 
God with power, according to the spirit of holiness,” 
according to, or as it respects his divine nature, “by 
the resurrection from the dead ” This glorious and 
blessed Redeemer did thus, by his taking flesh, and 
giving and dying, “the just for the unjust;” he did, I 
say, “destroy death and him that had the power of 
death, that is the devil.” Rich grace and sovereign 
compassion towards the children. “Made of a 
woman, and made under the law, that he might 


On the Divinity of Christ. S5 

redeem them that were under tlie law, tliat they 
might receive the adoption of sons.” A virgin 
conceives and bears a son. “Of whom as con¬ 
cerning the flesh, Christ came.” And although it 
is a vexation to his enemies to understand the report, 
yet, he is indisputably “over all. God blessed forever. 
Amen.” Thus we are brought to the all important 
subject to be illustrated and established in this es¬ 
say: or in other words, to contemplate Christ Jesus 
the Lord, in all the full orbed splendour of uncreated 
majesty, as “overall God blessed forever. Amen.” 
I am well aware of the appalling magnitude of the 
subject, of the arduous nature of the undertaking; 
but while] painfully fe 1 my own insufficiency, ] feel 
an equal conviction, that no man is sufficient for 
these things of himself, so that, il human sufficiency 
is to be waited for, the work of the Lord, in every 
instance, may go undone, and the adversaries of truth 
be suffered to triumph unmolested; they on every 
subject, and especially on the subject of this essay, 
feel their sufficiency to oppose truth and defame him, 
who is the “true God and eternal life.” Shall then 
a champion for truth, however humble, who knows 
where his great strength lieth, be discouraged in 
pleading the cause of that God and of his truth, who 
“ordaineth strength in the mouth of babes to perfect 
praise, and to still the enemy and the avenger?” No. 
Humbly trusting then, that the good spirit of God, 
the spirit of wisdom, and revelation, in the knowl¬ 
edge of Christ,” may be pleased graciously and suit¬ 
ably to help my infirmities, 1 have attempted this es¬ 
say, hoping that something may be said honorable 
to bis great and adorable name, and what be will 
deign to bless for bis own praise, bis people's good, 
and in some degree stopping the mouths of gainsay- 
ers; who labour indefatigably to degrade the high 
and lofty One, our Redeemer, to a creature.—Vain 
attempt. He is “Lord of all—overall, God blessed 
for ever.—Amen.” 




3G On the Divinity of Christ. 

It must be observed and ever borne in mind, that 
this subject is one especially of revelation. Philoso¬ 
phy and purplind human reason know nothing of it; 
their vulture eyes cannot sec it. “To the law and 
to the testimony’’ then; and oh, alas! that even reve¬ 
lation itself is sealed to the proud sceptic. God has 
in awful sovereignty and just judgment, hid these 
things from the wise and prudent, the self-sufficient 
scorner. But still, it is to the lively oracles of God, 
divested of the prejudices of science, falsely so called, 
that we ought to come, and must come, if we would 
“know of the doctrine, whether it be of God.” 

To these oracles, that only source of correct in¬ 
formation on a subject so sublime and interesting, I 
now appeal, and from them there can be no appeal; 
tins must be admitted a first principle in theology. 
The scriptures, and they only, are the safe, sufficient, 
and authorized judges on all divine subjects. 

The Catholics may drag their deluded proselytes 
to their traditions, their councils, their synods, their 
popes, and church decisions.—The Unitarians of va¬ 
rious names, may also lead their blinded followers 
by their strong reasons (so called) against the King 
of Jacob, the King of Zion. 

The Legalist of every name, may also lead their 
votaries (if God permit) by their supposed fitness of 
things; but it is the Christian’s duty and privilege to 
turn from all such expedients, such refuges of lies, 
with disdain, and make his appeal to the law and to 
the testimony, whether men will hear, or whether 
they will forbear, and decidedly conclude, if they 
speak not according to these it is because there is 
no light in them. “What saith the scripture?” is a 
proper enquiry on every spiritual subject; because 
the light that is in us, as fallen sinners, is darkness; 
and while men continue in a state of nature, “aliena¬ 
ted from the life of God, through the ignorance that 
is in them, because of the blindness of their minds,” 
that darkness remains, and especially on a subject of 



On the Divinity of Christ, 37 

so great and acknowledged a mystery.—I will there¬ 
fore, as proposed, make an appeal to the true sayings 
of God, in order to prove from them the all interest¬ 
ing truth under consideration; namely, that Christ is 
“over all God blessed for ever. Amen.” And this I 
shall attempt by shewing that the scriptures of truth 
ascribe to Christ the possession of divine perfections, 
attributes of eternal majesty; and that the correctness 
of such ascriptions is fully substantiated by his works. 

This I presume will be acknowledged a fair and 
conclusive way of bringing forward the subject w hich 
is now to be illustrated and established, that it is a 
fair and proper way of handling this matter, will ap¬ 
pear from the following considerations. If we con¬ 
template a being, and find that it possesses powers 
and performs works proper (exclusively so) to any 
particular grade of beings, we possess conclusive 
evidence, that such a being belongs to that particular 
grade. So, w hen we contemplate, in the light of divine 
truth, the glorious Redeemer of God’s elect, as he 
stands pre-eminently glorious in, and the life of, the 
sacred page; and find him possessed of, and glorious¬ 
ly displaying the full blaze of the incommunicable per¬ 
fections, of infinite uncreated majesty, w'hat is it short 
of demonstration, that he is “over all God blessed 
forever. Amen!” and does it not furnish us a full war¬ 
rant to encourage the feeble spouse of Christ, by tell¬ 
ing her that her beloved, on whom she leans, is—what? 
—a creature only!—No, sirs, God forbid!—but by 
telling her, in the language of inspiration, that “her 
Maker is her husband; the Lord of Hosts is his name.” 
Isa. liv. 5 O glorious and blessed truth, “happy 
are the people whose God is the Lord.” Let the 
Arian and Socinian, with all their blinded adherents, 
talk of a creature Saviour—deny the true nature, va¬ 
lue and validity of his atonement—and, in their world¬ 
ly wisdom, scorn the humbling truths of the gospel— 
boast of their free will, and go about to establish their 
own teousness, until deceiver and deceived reap the 
D 


38 On the Divinity of Christ , 

fruit of their rebellion. But let the church, the Lamb’s 
wife, cleave to the Lord that bought her, and say in 
faith ‘‘my Lord and my God.” View him as the 
great «I AM, the Alpha and Omega, the Almighty, 
travelling in the greatness of his strength, speaking 
in righteousness, mighty to save.” 

In farther prosecuting this subject, I have to shew 
from the Word, that Jesus our Saviour, the Saviour 
of them who are ready to perish, possesses divine and 
incommunicable perfections, so that men ought to 
honor him even as they honor the Father. Those 
divine perfections, which will be selected as sufficient 
for the present occasion, and as embracing the sub¬ 
ject matter of this essay, are the following, namely. 
Omnipotence, Omniscience, Omnipresence and Eternity. 

That the word of God ascribes omnipotence to 
the Lamb that was slain, cannot well be doubted by 
those who humbly read the 8th verse of the first chap¬ 
ter of Revelations, and compare it with the 11th and 
13th: the 8th verse read thus: “I am Alpha and Ome¬ 
ga, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, 
which is, and which was, and which is to come, the 
Almighty .” And if a doubt could for a moment ex¬ 
ist as to who is the speaker, compare this language 
with what we have in the 11 th verse. Thebeloved 
John, to whom the Revelation was given, heard a 
great voice behind him “saying, l am Alpha and Ome¬ 
ga, the first and the last and in the 13th verse, be¬ 
ing turned to see who spoke the great and gracious 
words that saluted his ears, he saw “seven golden 
candlesticks, and in the midst of the seven can¬ 
dlesticks, one like unto the Son of Man;” this is the 
glorious speaker in the 8th verse, the Mediator of 
the New Covenant, “he tlyit liveth and was dead, 
18.” who affirms in the 17th verse, that lie is “the 
first and the last.” The 8th verse of the 2d chapter, 
the 6th of the 21st, the 13th of the 22d, compared 
with the 16th, all speak the same language, and un¬ 
fold and support the same truth. Is it to be believed 


On the Divinity of Christ. 


$9 

by any taught of God, with his Bible in his hand and 
its truths in his heart, that an absolute jealous God, 
who savs he will not give his glory to another, is the 
speaker in the 8th of the first chapter, and that a 
mere creature is the speaker in the lltli verse, and 
in all the before cited passages, setting up the same 
claims that are urged in the 8th, “I am Alpha and 
Omega, the first and the last.” It thus appears fully 
evident, tl^e speaker in each case is one and the 
same, even him who declares himself to be “the Al¬ 
mighty.” And (as James says) to this agree the 
words of the prophet, Isa. ix. 6. “To us a child is 
born, to us a son is given, the government shall be 
on his shoulders, and his name shall be called Won¬ 
derful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting 
Fidher, the Prince of Peace” 

Has the spirit of prophesy misnamed the Saviour 
of sinners? no, verily, God (the Holy Ghost) is a God 
of truth, and Christ is designated “the Mighty God,” 
because he is “the Mighty God, the Almighty.” He 
shall be called “the Mighty God” by the command 
of heaven, not by mistaken men, as the Unitarian 
would insinuate; no, verily, and the believer in Je¬ 
sus can say to his heart’s joy, “I know whom I have 
believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep 
that which I have committed unto him against that 
day.” This is the language of faith and of truth. 
But who, I would ask, is keeper of Israel but the 
Mighty God, he “who fainteth not, neither is weary, 
whose understanding is unsearchable.” This was 
he to whom the great apostle committed his soul, in 
well doing, as into the hands of a faithful Creator; 
and in thus committing his soul to the keeping of 
Christ, he did nothing less or more, than obey the 
divine injunction and embrace the divine encourage¬ 
ment, namely, “Trust in the Lord Jehovah, for in 
the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength, he giveth 
power to the faint, and to those w ho have no might 
he increaseth strength.” 


40 On the Divinity of Christ, 

If it be possible to question the correctness of the 
foregoing statements, as applicable to, and proofs of 
the omnipotence of him who is able to save to the ut¬ 
termost, we may say in his language, who spoke as 
man never spoke, that if his words (and the words 
of his prophets and apostles) are not to be believed 
as vouchers for his omnipotence, “believe his works” 
What saith the scripture? “All things were made by 
him, and without him was not any thing made that 
was made.” Yes “the world was made by him, 
though the world knew him not.” Thus speaks the 
beloved apostle John, chap. i. 3 and 10. “The world 
was created by him.” Thus speaks the apostle and 
teacher of the Gentiles in truth and verity, Col. i. 
16, 17. “By him were all things created that are in 
heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, 
whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principa¬ 
lities, or powers, all things were created by him and 
for him, and he is before all things, and by him all 
things consist.” And in Heb. i. 3. we have this all 
important declaration touching him who is “the 
brightness of the Father’s glory, and the express 
image of his person,” “Upholding all things by the 
word of his power.” Bo not these works, ascribed 
to the Lord Jesus Christ, in language so explicit, so 
strong, so unequivocal, namely, the creating the 
w r orld and all things in heaven and earth; governing 
the world; upholding the world, even all things; and that 
by his word, his powerful word, the word of his power. 
Do not, I say, these works of omnipotence prove the 
doer of them beyond controversy, to be “Almighty 
God, over all God blessed for ever. Amen.” Of w hat¬ 
ever character the works of men are, we readily ac¬ 
cede to them the possession of a correspondent quali¬ 
ty, whether of wisdom, or power, or goodness, or 
genius, or philanthrophy, or patriotism, or of what¬ 
ever description they may be: so if we see the. Re¬ 
deemer performing the works of omnipotence, what 
is it but proof positive, that he possesses that attri- 


41 


Oil the Divinity of Christ. 

bute, that incommunicable attribute of infinite majes¬ 
ty. Can any that fear God doubt the important fact? 
if it be yet possible, then I would ask this all impor¬ 
tant question. Who is the creator, governor, uphold¬ 
er, and judge of the world? Is not this answer obvi¬ 
ous and unavoidable, “Almighty God.” Are not the 
works of creation vouchers for the eternal power and 
Godhead of the Creator? Rom. i. 20 .” But Jesus 
Christ is the creator, governor, upholder, and judge 
of the world, as has been made fully evident; there¬ 
fore Jesus Christ is “Almighty God.” The premi¬ 
ses are self-evident—the conclusion is indisputable. 

It is hoped that what has been advanced will be 
judged to be (as it really is) amply sufficient to es¬ 
tablish the first position laid down, namely, that as a 
proof of Christ’s true and proper divinity, he posses¬ 
ses and exercises the incommunicable attribute of 
omnipotence. 

I am next to show, from the testimony of the di¬ 
vine oracles, that the adorable, glorious and blessed 
Redeemer of the election of grace, is “Omniscient 
God;” or, in other words, that he not only possesses 
infinite power, but that he also possesses “infinite 
wisdom,” that he is “the only wise God, and our Sa¬ 
viour.” If to have an intimate and perfect acquain¬ 
tance with the human heart be any proof of omniscience 
or infinite wisdom, our high priest, whose lips keep 
knowledge, gave ample proof of possessing that inti¬ 
macy. How oft, in the days of his flesh, did he make 
it appear, that “he needed not that any should testify 
of man, for he knew what was in man.” His disciples 
often found it so when they thought to conceal their 
vain glorious reasonings from him. Simon, the Pha¬ 
risee found it, when he was indulging thoughts to the 
prejudice of his exalted guest, because he seemed dis¬ 
posed to notice, with compassion, a poor polluted, 
but mourning sinner, at his feet—and the proud Pha¬ 
risees, who sought to entangle him in his speech, 
found it, when he thus rebuked them, “I know you-, 
T>2 


42 On the Divinity rf Christ. 

that you have not the love of God in you —and a siiil 
more decisive proof that the Son of God, whose eyes 
are like a flame of fire, is the omniscient God, we have 
in Rev. ii. 23, compared with Ps. vii. 9. Jer.xi. 20, and 
“particularly xvii. 10. In the 9th verse of this lTth 
chapter, the question is asked: Mho can know the 
heart of man, which is deceitful above all things, and 
desperately wicked? The answer to this highly im¬ 
portant question is immediately given by him who on¬ 
ly could give it; namely, the omniscient Jehovah—“I 
the Lord, search the heart; I try the reins, even to 
give every man according to his ways.” The great 
Jehovah here claims the exclusive power and prerog¬ 
ative of searching the heart—“I, the Lord, do it”— 
none else could do it, but that God to whom all things 
are open and naked; even him with whom we have to 
do, before whose all pervading eyes hell is without a 
covering, and from whom none can hide himself.— 
Now let us turn to Rev. ii. 23, and observe attentive¬ 
ly the close and striking affinity between the language 
of Jehovah, Jer. xvii. 10, and that Rev. ii. 23, where 
the Son of God thus speaks:—“All the churches shall 
know that I AM HE which searches the reins and 
the heart; and I will give to every one of you accord¬ 
ing to your works.” Can the speaker of these words 
be less than the omniscient God? Can or dare a crea¬ 
ture, however exalted, assume to himself the prerog¬ 
ative that Jehovah claims—to search the heart; and 
still further, to award to men according to their deeds? 
No, certainly not: and as it would be the height of 
blasphemy and presumption in any creature thus to 
pretend, so it is a proof of the most consummate ignor¬ 
ance, blindness and perversity, on theological sub¬ 
jects, to attribute such acts to a creature. 

It is most certainly the proper and exclusive act of 
God, according to Jer. xxv. 14, where the Lord God 
of Israel speaks thus—“I will recompense them ac¬ 
cording to their deeds and according to the work of 
their hands:” and in Ro. ii. 6, it is declared of God that 


On the Divinity of Christ. 


43 


“he will render to every man according to his deeds.” 
Thus it appears evident that to search the heart and 
to punish evil istiie act of the omnipotent and omnis¬ 
cient God; and it is equally evident that these godlike 
acts are performed by Jesus Christ: therefore Jesus 
Christ is indisputably the omnipotent and the omnis¬ 
cient God; and as he declared, in the before cited pas¬ 
sage, Rev. ii. 23, that all the churches should know 
that it was he that searched the reins and the heart, 
and gave to every man according to his works—so all 
the churches do know it: that is to say, all the churches 
of the saints know it—But there are, it is true, many 
assemblies, who call themselves churches, who do not 
know it—-will not acknowledge it—but pertinacious¬ 
ly deny it: but then we must not recognise such as the 
churches of Christ, for all his churches are to know 
it, and what they know in their hearts they confess 
w ith their mouths; and on their happy knowledge of 
the all important fact is founded their encouragement 
to call upon his name, convinced that, as the omniscient 
God, he knoweth what they need, understandeth their 
thoughts afar off, and even answereth their groan- 
ings that cannot be uttered. Happy, thrice happy, 
are the men who, under such a conviction of, and 
faith in his sufficiency, “call upon the name of Jesus 
Christ, our Lord, both theirs and ours.”—1 Cor. i. 2. 

What has been said on this head might well be ad¬ 
mitted sufficient to prove the omniscience of Christ, 
without taking into the account that he manages and 
directs all things in the world and in the church, in 
all ages and all places; and Anally, will judge that 
world when the mystery of God is finished, when he 
shall have accomplished the number of his elect, and 
when his infinite power shall have raised the dead, 
which no being but the infinitely wise God could do. 
1 ask of whom is it said that “in wisdom he hath made 
them all,” even all the works of creation? Must not 
this question receive the following answer? “The 


44 


On the Divinity of Christ. 

Omniscient God." Again: who governs the world, 
and all things in it, and directs the way of his peo¬ 
ple and his servants, and all their concerns of body 
and soul, in every point of view? The answer to this 
interrogatory must also be—“ The Omniscient God ” 
Farther I ask—who now searcheth, with infallible 
precision, the deceitful hearts of men; and who will 
finally, in judgment, award to every man according 
to his deeds? The answer is again evident— The 
Omniscient God. Yes, verily, God is judge himself: 
hut Jesus Christ our Lord and our God, hath done, 
doth do and will do all these divine acts, as hath been 
fully shewn—therefore the unavoidable inference is, 
that Jesus Christ is omniscient, the omniscient God, 
“over all God blessed forever— Amen 

Having said thus much, which I judge fully suffi¬ 
cient to prove the omnipotence and omniscience of 
Christ. I shall next endeavor to shew, and I hope to be 
enabled fully to shew, by the authority of those scrip¬ 
tures that cannot be broken, that the glorious being, 
in whom the believing Gentiles trust, is the “Omni¬ 
present God" —and that lie is so is evident, if the in¬ 
corruptible word of God is judge, which, among ma¬ 
ny other honorable testimonies, bear witness, Col. ii. 
9, that “in him dwelleth all the fullness of the godhead 
bodily;” and in the 8th verse, the apostle (who was a 
scribe well instructed into the kingdom of Christ,) 
admonishes believers to “beware lest any man spoil 
them, through philosophy and vain deceit, after the 
tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, 
and not after Christ—From this it should seem, that 
men of corrupt minds not only then withstood the 
truth, but that wise men after the flesh, in after days, 
would, through philosophy and vain deceit, strive to 
pervert the right ways of the Lord. But to return 
from this partial digression, to the subject of this 
section, which is to shew that Christ is an omnipre¬ 
sent God. If he did not possess the incommunicable 
perfection of omnipresence, how could it be said, with 


On the Divinity of Christ . 


45 


truth, that “the fulness of the godhead dwelt in him 
bodily,” or substantially; andif he is not omnipresent, 
it may with reverence be said, that his own words arc 
not worthy of credit; for in his conversation with 
Nicodcmus, John iii. 16, he declares that he was in 
heaven while conversing with him oil earth. “No 
man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came 
down from heaven, even the Son of Man which is in 
heaven .” Can words be more explicit and full, to 
prove the omnipresence of the Son of God? He was 
on earth and in heaven. Is this any thing short of 
saying, “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” Such pri¬ 
vilege (says Milton) hath omnipresence “to go, yet 
stay”—to come down from heaven, and still to be in 
heaven. Who but the Lord from heaven, who is the 
faithful and true witness, could with truth speak thus? 
Verily none. But “the w ord who was with God, and 
who is God,” thought it no robbery to be (in this res¬ 
pect) equal; that is to claim equality with God—and 
for this all important justificatory reason, “he is over 
all God blessed forever. Amen.” Will the Arian, the 
Socinian, the Unitarians, as they are pleased to call 
themselves—will they, I ask, say Amen, to so great, 
so glorious a truth? No, certainly not—but labor in¬ 
cessantly to obscure and even blot it out, if it were 
possible; while his people, who know his name, (his 
character) and put their trust in him, who by him 
have been redeemed from all evil, add their Amen, 
with the whole heart, and hail him as universal 
Lord, worthy of all blessing and praise, to whom ev¬ 
ery knee shall bow, and “the end of their conversa¬ 
tion in Jesus Christ the same yesterday, to-day and 
forever.” Again—does not the Saviour assert his 
omnipresence and encourage the confidence of his 
servants in him, in all places and at all times , w hen he 
says, “Lo, I. am with y ou always , to.the end of the 
world. Can any one, but that divine being, who is 
every where present, use such language? No, surely r 
not, except he meant to deceive, and that be far from 


46 


On the Divinity of Christ. 

the faithful and true witness, who was full of grace 
and truth , and by whom grace and truth came, but 
not falsehood—no guile was found in his mouth.— 
How would a plain godly man understand these gra- 
cious words that dropt from the lips of his Lord, es¬ 
pecially when his heart was bowed down with trou¬ 
ble, and he was enabled to mix faith with them?— 
Would he not so understand them as to induce him to 
say, “heaviness in my heart hath long made it stoop, 
but thy good word, my Lord and my God, maketh it 
glad.” Prov. xii. 25—Here is an experimental use and 
enjoyment of a most important truth—for although 
the Unitarians and carnal men of every name, may 
call it enthusiasm^the believer in w hose heart Christ 
is formed the hope of glory, knows in whom he has 
believed, enjoys Fellowship with him, and is persuade^ 
that he is able to keep him by his power—to supply 
all his needs out of his fulness—and, at last, to 
present him faultless before his throne—because 
lie is well assured that the fulness of the godhead 
dwells in him bodily . Who but that strong God—the 
omnipotent God, could give power to the faint; and 
to those who have no might, increase strength? So 
speak to his servants and tell them his strength should 
be perfected in their weakness, as to enable them to 
“glory most gladly in their infirmities, that the power 
of Christ mightrest upon them.”—2 Cor. xii. 9. 

Who but an all-wise God can search his people’s 
hearts, know all their wants, w eaknesses and foes, and 
suit his operations thereto? And w ho but a God eve¬ 
ry where present, can comfort the souls of his peo¬ 
ple, in all the tribulation they endure, and be to 
them a sun and shield in every part of the world, and 
in every age, and under every possible circumstance? 
Most certainly, no one, but an omnipotent, omniscient 
and omnipresent God, could do these things. But all 
these doth the Redeemer of lost men, as has been am¬ 
ply made manifest, by which he is proved omnipotent, 
omniscient and omnipresent, by the express testimo 


47 


On the Divinity of Christ . 

ny ol' the word of God, and by the works he hath per¬ 
formed, is now performing, and will hereafter per¬ 
form. Seeing, then, that these things are so, that 
Christ is possessed of such incommunicable perfec¬ 
tions, and doth such works as declare and prove his 
eternal power and godhead, is it not proper to say, 
“The God of the whole earth shall he he called,” Isa. 
liv. 5, who is, in the words I am attempting to illus¬ 
trate, “over all God blessed forever. Amen.” Be en¬ 
couraged then, oh! feeble of the flock, to believe that 
he who said, “because I live, you shall live also,” is 
able to make good his words, so that a feeble saint 
shall win the day, though death and bell obstruct the 
way; and that he is able to do this because “thy Mak¬ 
er is thy husband , the Lord of Hosts is his name, and 
thy Redeemer, the holy one of Israel, “the God of 
the whole earth shall he be called.” 

Lastly I am to shew from the sacred volume of in¬ 
spiration, that this prince of the kings of the earth, 
by whom kings reign, this King of Kings, and Lord 
of Lords, is “the eternal God;” that he inhabits or is 
possessed of eternity, or eternal existence, as an in¬ 
communicable perfection of godhead. If we view the 
subject retrospectively we And him often declaring, 
“7am the first ”—“7 am he that was ”—before Abram 
was 7 am "—and John, the Baptist, bears this testi¬ 
mony—“He was before me”—John i. 15. These 
terms, and several others of similar import, are used 
to declare the eternity of God our Saviour, in a re¬ 
trospective point of view. If we look at the subject 
prospectively, we find the Son of God, whose eyes are 
as a flame of fire, declaring “I am the last,” “the 
Omega,” “he that is and is to come”—so that if we 
make the scriptures the man of our counsel, and at- 
tempt not to be wise above what is written, if we 
cease to lean to our own understanding, and are con¬ 
tent to be fools that we aiay be wise, there will be no 
difficulty in our being brought to the conclusion of 
the apostle, and expressing our thoughts on this lofty 


48 


On the Divinity of Christ. 

subject in bis language—“Jesus Christ the same 
yesterday , to-day and forever." O glorious truth; a 
Saviour eternal and unchangeable; the same yester¬ 
day, to-day and forever —“without variableness or 
shadow of turning.” Well might he say, “Look 
unto me all the ends of the earth, and be ye saved, for 
I am God , and none else.” 

This is our “Immanuel, God with us, who is over 
all, God blessed for ever. Amen." —“Trust in him 
then at all times, ye people, pour out your hearts be¬ 
fore him;” and be assured that such worship and 
such trust is not a departing from the living God 
and trusting in man, for which men arc cursed; but 
it is a trusting in the strength of Israel, who is not 
a man merely, that he should lie, nor the son of man, 
that he should change.—His name shall be called 
“the Mighty God, the Everlasting Fat her, or Father 
of Eternity , the Prince of Peace.” And if God the 
Father commanded tlie angelic host to worship him, 
while here in the flesh, saying “Let all the angels of 
God worship him*" may we not now with the strict¬ 
est propriety, exhort the household of faith to follow 
the example of the cloud of witnesses gone before, in 
the language of holy writ, “He is thy Lord , and wor¬ 
ship thou him." “Let prayer be made for him conti¬ 
nually, (that is for the prosperity of his cause) and 
daily let him be praised. Speak good of his name, 
and talk of all his wondrous works." And accord¬ 
ing to the mandate of heaven, “honour the Son even 
as you honour the Father.” And though many are 
so blinded by the god of this world, that they cannot 
see a truth so bright; yet let it be your practice, as it 
is your privilege who trust in his name to say, “wo 
know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us 
an understanding, that we may know him that is 
true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son 
Jesus Christ.” “This (Jesus Christ who gave us 
the understanding to know him) is the true God, 
and eternal life.” l John, v. 20. Who but the true 




Oh the Divinity of Christ . 49 

God could thus enlighten the benighted mind of man, 
that he should know Him, whom to know is eternal 
life? Let then the children of God declare, to the 
honor of their Redeemer, that their fellowship is with 
the Son as well as with the Father, 1 Jolini. 3. and 
that the fellowship they intend is not that which sub¬ 
sists between saints, but the fellowship of a believing 
man with a gracious God, in the enjoyment of which 
his wants are poured into the bosom of a friend that 
loveth at all times, and who is ever able and 
ready to supply him out of his own fullness—and 
let it be observed, this practice is perfectly consonant 
with the example of ancient believers, who called up¬ 
on the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, both theirs 
and ours. Peace be on all such, even on the whole 
Israel of God. 

Shall then the friends of Christ, with all these 
proofs, and a thousand more, of the true divinity of 
God our Redeemer—with all these decisive evidences 
that “he is overall God blessed forever”—shall they, 

I say, hesitate to add their hearty and believing 
Amen—and dare to derogate from his honor, or suffer 
others so to do, without an effort to stop the mouths 
of gainsayers, because in infinite commiseration of 
our wretchedness, he displayed the riches of his grace 
in becoming poor, though rich—in making himself 
of no reputation, (though equal with God—in being 
made in the likeness of sinful flesh, and taking upon 
himself the form (or character) of a servant, (though 
“Lord of ’all,”) that being found in fashion as a 
man he might humble himself and become obedient 
(though a son) even unto death—the death of the 
cross? No, surely not—It would be the height of 
ingratitude and wickedness. Nor will the believer in 
Christ dare refuse him the honor due to his adorable 
name; because, in order to be a merciful and faithful 
high priest in things pertaining to God, to make re¬ 
conciliation for iniquity, he condescended to be made 
like unto bis brethren! God forbid. So far from it. 
E 


50 


On the Divinity of Christ. 

these things inspire their confidence and call forth 
their adoration, gratitude and love, in language like 
this: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive 
power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and 
honor, and glory, and blessing”—and for this impor¬ 
tant reason: “that in being slain he redeemed us (say 
they) to God by his blood, out of every kindred, and 
tongue, and people, and nation.” This is the senti¬ 
ment that prevails in the grateful bosom of every be¬ 
liever in our Lord Christ; and none but his enemies, 
who are shut up in unbelief, will think of making his 
condescension a justifiable pretext to disparage, de¬ 
grade and dishonor him. 

Whenever the invincible grace and power of God 
turns the heart of a sinner from disobedience to the 
wisdom of the just, he is brought to renounce his own 
wisdom and receive the word of truth from his mouth, 
who is a priest after the power of an endless life—the 
Lord of life and glory—whom, if any man love not, 
let him be anathema, maranatha, saith the apostle. 

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and him only 
shalt thou serve”—and if any man serve not and love 
not the Lord Christ, he is an enemy to all righte¬ 
ousness—but he that does love and serve him, acts 
in perfect conformity to the first and greatest com¬ 
mand—and if such love and obedience rendered to 
Christ was not in conformity to that command it 
w ould be a crime; for the command runs thus: ‘‘Thou 
shalt love the Lord thy God, and him oniy shalt thou 
serve.” He then who loves and serves Christ, loves 
and serves the Lord his God —so Thomas judged, 
when in faith he thus addressed his risen Saviour:— 
“Jl/t/ Lord and my God." 

Thus it appears that, though we cannot by search¬ 
ing find out the Almighty to perfection, yet if we are 
enabled to search for biblical knowledge as for hid 
treasure, it will appear that the scriptures of truth 
are replete with testimony upon testimony, presented 
in a great variety of forms, to prove that he, who w as 



51 


On the Divinity of Christ. 

from above, and above all, wlio tabernacled among 
us, as a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, is 
*»the Lord our Righteousness; the true God and Eter¬ 
nal Life; the Almighty God; the all-wise God; the 
every where present God; the Eternal God; over 
all, God blessed for ever. Amen.” 

To conclude, he that hath the Son as the object of 
his trust, as the object of his love, the object of his 
worship, reverence and obedience; he that thus hath 
the Son dwelling in his heart by faith, as his all and 
in all, hath life; and he that hath not the Son thus 
considered, hath not life. 

The Unitarians’ plea for the exercise of candour 
and charity towards them, cannot he heard; they 
have no just, no admissible claim for peace; it would 
be dealing deceitfully in the covenant and sinning 
against the generation of God’s children to grant it, 
in the sense they plead for it, while their rebellion 
against the Lord and his anointed is so flagrant, in 
denying the true divinity of his person, the necessity, 
nature, and validity of his atonement, in expiating 
sin by bearing it in his own body on the tree, and 
thus satisfying divine justice; and also by their deny¬ 
ing the imputation of his active obedience, his media¬ 
torial righteousness, to them that believe, to consti¬ 
tute them righteous. Rom. v. 19. In going about t# 
establish their own righteousness, the supposed digni¬ 
ty and rectitude of human nature, and freedom of the 
human will, and sufficiency of human power in 
things pertaining to salvation—While (I say) their 
departure from and opposition to truth, and him who 
is the essential truth, is so flagrant, their plea for 
candor, charity and peace cannot he heard—for if 
this foundation were removed, what could the righte¬ 
ous do?—other foundation can no man lay, than that 
which is laid, which is Christ Jesus. He is such a 
foundation as the believer needs 9 approves and loves — 
not a sandy one, but a rock—a living and life giving 
stone—a rock on which his church is built. ’Tis 


52 


On the Divinity of Christ. 

true he i? a rock of offence, and disallowed by those 
who stumble at the word, being disobedient —rebels 
against the person and government of Zion’s King. 
Such would do well to remember that he hath said, 
“Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, 
but on whomsoever^ shall fall, it shall grind them to 
powder.” 

Christ then is a rock of offence to the wicked of 
every name; but to the godly of every name, he is 
“a sure foundation, a living and life giving rock;” 
and every believer may add, “7 T o whom I have come, 
being drawn by the Father, by whom 1 have been 
enlivened; On whom I am built through the Spirit, 
who is to me precious; and respecting whom I can 
say in faith, “The Lord livet/i 9 and blessed be my 
rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted. 
Psa* xviii. 46. “And because he lives I shall live 
also.” 

To close this essay, I ask in the language of scrip- 
ture, Psa. xviii. 31. “ Who is God save the Lord? or 
who is a rock save our God?” the answer must be in 
the negative, None, no one is a rock save our God: 
but Jesus Christ is a rock. Then, and therefore, Je¬ 
sus Christ (“the brightness of the Father’s glory”) 
“is our God ,” “over all, God blessed throughout all 
ages. Amen." Even so; “and blessed be his Holy 
Name” for ever and ever. Amen and Amen. 

This is the God the Christian’s heart adores, 

In whom he trusts, to whom his prayer be pours; 
Whose strength in weakness felt is perfect made, 
Whose grace in straits affords sufficient aid, 

Whose love preserv’d him e’er he did him call, 
Whose arms uphold him when he else would fall. 
From darkness into light his soul he brought, 

And with an hand that’s strong he hath him taught 
To know himself as lost—and Christ, his God, 

Who guides and feeds him by and with his rod—- 
That rod (his word) which is from Zion sent, 
Through which, when own’d of God, lost men repent. 


On the Divinity of Christ . 53 

And then by faith, (which doth by hearing come,) 
They leave (through sense of need) their native home, 
And flee to Christ, their rock and hiding place, 

And taste his dying love and saving grace. 

Such gladly own him as the “Lord of all,” 

And like the saints of old upon him call, 

As on a “ potent ,” “wise” and “ present ” friend, 

“Eternally the same ”—he knows no end. 



OS THE 

UXAI1TEIUMII1& LOVE OF GOD, 


AS ILLUSTRATED IS 

BEARING WITH, FEELING FOR, AND HEALING 


13il(B2^1LIIID]2Si3o 


Yet lam■ the Lord thy God, from the Land of Egypt, and thou shalt know 
no God but me, foi' there is no Saviour beside me .—Hosea xiii. 4. 


Whoever is taught of God to know himself as a, 
lost sinner, totally depraved and without strength, 
and to know also Christ crucified as the all sufficient 
Saviour of them who are (sensibly) ready to perish, 
and who studies the sacred scriptures under the teach¬ 
ing of the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of Truth, such 
a one will be led to discover, to his great coinfort, 
many very gracious and interesting displays of tri¬ 
umphant grace and sovereign compassion, not only 
towards the chief of sinners in their first conversion, 
in plucking them as brands from the everlasting burn¬ 
ings; but, if possible, more eminently triumphant 
and sovereign, in the healing of the worst and most 
perverse of backsliders, and in all the gracious steps 


56 


On the Unalterable Love of God . 

tending to tliat happy, God honoring, and soul sav¬ 
ing issue, by which the Lord God, merciful and gra¬ 
cious, is so supereminently distinguished from, and 
exalted infinite heights above man! “1 will not re¬ 
turn to destroy Ephraim;/or 1 am God and not man!” 
Hosea xi. 9. 

In the preceding part of the chapter from whence 
I have selected my motto, (as in very many parts of 
God’s gracious word) we have a painful narrative of 
the great, persevering and increasing wickedness, of 
the professed people of God of that day; they had 
forsaken the fountain of living waters, they had join¬ 
ed themselves to Idols, and in that they sinned more 
and more! and though God in fatherly displeasure 
chastised them with the rod of men, visiting their 
sins with the rod, and their iniquities with stripes, 
Psa. lix. 32. though he made them as the morning 
cloud and early dew, as the chaff driven with the 
whirlwind, and as smoke out of the chimney; yet his 
unalterable loving kindness never failed! he knew in¬ 
fallibly what was best calculated to secure the honor 
of his own government, and commend most illustrious- 
y the riches of his unsearchable love in Christ! fie 
/ould not therefore give the offenders up to that judg¬ 
ment they so richly deserved, and of which his enemies 
had so often been made the monuments. Hear his own 
most gracious soliloquy on the subject. “How shall 
I give thee up Ephraim? How shall I deliver thee 
Israel? How shall I make thee as Admah? How shall 
I set thee as Zeboaui? Mine heart is turned within 
me, my repentings are kindled together!” Read Ho¬ 
sea xi. from the 7th verse to the end, and it will evi¬ 
dently appear, that these and other most gracious 
words are spoken with reference to a people bent to 
backslide, none of whom would exalt the Most High, 
hut compassed him about with lies and deceit; yet 
the Lord our God is Jehovah and changeth not! and 
therefore his refractory and offending family are not 
consumed as they deserve! 0 the riches of divine 


57 


On the Unalterable Love of God . 

grace, forbearance and mercy! It is true, that for 
peace the froward have great bitterness, for in very 
faithfulness doth he afflict; but still in love to their 
souls, in Christ, and for his sake, lie casts all their sins 
behind his back into the depths of the sea. The back¬ 
slider in heart is indeed tilled with his own ways, to 
his grief, wounding and shame; but though he has 
shamefully forgotten God, yet that God of patience, 
against whom he hath so foully and ungratefully sin¬ 
ned, and by whom he hath set so light, “doth earnest¬ 
ly remember him still;” and although the Lord speaks 
against him and acts against him, (for “with the 
froward God will shew himself froward,”) “yet he 
will surely have mercy upon him,” when he has suit¬ 
ably chastised and humbled him. He hath said it, 
whose word stands firmer than heaven and earth, one 
jot or tittle of which can never fall to the ground! 
“What shall we then say to these things?” Nothing 
better can be said than what the apostle of the Gen¬ 
tiles was instructed to say, namely: “If God be for 
us, who can be against us?”—and that God is for (or 
on the side of) poor mourners in Zion, who, through 
grace, have believed on his Son, cannot be doubted; to 
plead their cause, fight their battles, “deliver them 
from him that is stranger than they, and make them 
more than conquerors, through him that hath loved 
them!” 

The captain of our salvation (as Pharoah said) 
“fighteth for Israel against the Egyptians.” Yet still 
worse foes than the ancient Egyptians are against us. 
Yes, verily, the world, the flesh and the devil are in 
battle array against the household of faith, the flock 
of Christ, and especially against the unhappy wan¬ 
derers from his fold; but still the good shepherd’s care 
ceaseth not, for as sure as David slew a lion and a 
bear which committed depredations on his flock which 
was his charge, so sure, and more effectually, will 
the good shepherd Christ Jesus, go into the wilder¬ 
ness and seek “that lost sheep that is driven away. 


53 


On the Unalterable Love of God, 




until lie find it;” nor will lie set dogs to worry it: 
but as lie knows bow to “have compassion on tin* ig¬ 
norant and those who are out of the way, lie will lay 
it on bis shoulders, or in his bosom, and bring it 
bark!” [f it is diseased “lie will heal that which is 
sick,” as well as “restore that which was driven 
away!” And although the restored wanderer should 
be so disfigured by disease, and its fleecy robe (which 
should be always white) so defiled with the filth, and 
torn by the brambles of the wilderness, yea, though 
some of its bones should be so broken by falls into 
pits, (for indeed “it is aland of pits and snares,”) al¬ 
though, I say, all these evils should have combined 
so to disfigure the poor culprit, that the sheep who 
had been safely kept, and well fed, and clean clothed, 
should hardly be able to know, and proudly disdain 
to own (as one of them) a creature so disfigured and 
defiled, yet Christ, the chief shepherd, seeth not as 
the sheep see; they look upon the outw ard appear¬ 
ance, he looketh upon the heart—the heart which 
himself hath prepared! He heareth the wanderer be¬ 
moaning himself, which is no other than the answer 
or echo of the tongue, corresponding w ith the prepar¬ 
ed state of the heart, made soft, humble and contrite, 
and he wdiose ear is never heavy, well understandeth 
the sighing of the needy! Perhaps the sheep may but 
ill understand the bleating of the wounded and dis¬ 
eased, which in the ear of a gracious God, and at the 
footstool of his mercy, is poured out thus: “I have 
no rest in my bones because of my foolishness; my 
wounds stink and are corrupt; my loins are filled 
with a loathsome disease; my sore runneth in the 
night and ceaseth not; [ abhor myself in dust and 
ashes. Against thee only have I sinned and done this 
evil in thy sight.” “O heal my hackslidings, for¬ 
give my sins, that the bones which thou hast broken 
may rejoice!” 

The favoured and preserved sheep of the flock, I 
have said, and 1 know I have said truly, do but ill 



59 


On the Unalterable Love of God. 

understand, and I may add, they less credit the sin¬ 
cerity of such self loathing lamentations; and though 
the poor unhappy subject of them “wets his couch 
with tears,” yet they suspect they are but crocodile 
tears: so that it sometimes happens (and it is, and 
ever will remain for a lamentation) that the despised 
and shunned subject, who would gladly lie down in 
the fold and partake of their rich pastures and still 
waters, is again driven to herd with the goats and 
the swine; and though he cannot be satisfied with 
their husks nor with their society, and is driven to 
say “wo is me, for I dwell in Mcshek;” yet it rarely 
happens that he can find an eye that will pity him, or 
any who are desirous to “strengthen that which re¬ 
mains, by even saying, “brother, be of good cheer!” 
so that it appears as if “no man cared for his soul.” 
Such is the prevalence of self righteousness; but 
though men, even good men, act thus reprehensibly, 
disdainful and negligent, for the want of more self 
knowledge and more brotherly love, which would teach 
them to “mourn with those who mourn, and groan 
being burdened. ’ While men act thus, the ways of 
a sin-forgiving God transcend them in wisdom and 
compassion, as the heavens are higher than the earth! 
for if we attentively consider the tender language and 
dealings of God towards his backsliding children, we 
must be constrained to exclaim—“His ways are not 
as our ways, nor are his thoughts as our thoughts!” 
No, verily, the unchangeable love of his heart, and 
the ever-abiding relation between himself and his 
people, enriches and emblazons the sacred page, so that 
he who runs may read—Thus he speaks in unchange¬ 
able love: “Yet I am the Lord thy God, from the land 
of Egypt, and thou shalt know no God but me, for 
there is no Saviour beside me.” O most gracious, 
encouraging and supporting words, to him who is 
stung with self-reproach, the frowns of men, and 
scorning of those who are at ease! 

The relationship is indissoluble.” “Yet I am the* 



60 


On ike Unalterable Love of God . 


Lord thy God,” notwithstanding thy many provoca¬ 
tions;” “yet” though thou hast forsaken me times 
without number, though thou hast played the harlot 
with many lovers; “yet,” notwithstanding all this 
-and much more, still “J am the Lord thy God!” This 
great and glorious truth writ as with a sun-beam, 
and writ in blood, and with blood, even the blood of 
God’s dear Son; this great truth, I say, was most 
mercifully and happily illustrated in the experience 
of David—a man who had been most signally favour¬ 
ed of God, and had every thing bestowed on him 
that heart or flesh could covet; yet he sinned with a 
high hand and a hardened heart, a “heart hardened 
through the deceitfulness of sin;” for while his va¬ 
liant and faithful worthy Uriah, was jeopardizing his , 
life in the high places of the field, and fighting his 
battles, he (David) conspired against his peace, and 
stole his wife!—and when his craft and stratagem 
proved ineffectual to hide his shame, he conspired 
against his life , “and murdered him with the sword 
of the children of Ammon!” Base outrage of every 
principle of honor as a soldier, as well as of justice 
as a man, his iniquity was great—not only adultery, 
but blood guiltiness was on his head—but base and 
aggravated as was the matter of Uriah and Bathshe- 
ba, it was not unpardonable .'—but being interested in 
“that better covenant which is established on better 
promises, which covenant is well ordered in all things, 
and sure to all the seed.” A prophet was in God’s 
good time, sent to rebuke him for his iniquity, and to 
be instrumental in the hand of the Spirit, to bring 
him to a sense of his sin, and to repentance not to be 
repented of; and this was done by a judicious and ap¬ 
propriate parable, dictated to the prophet no doubt 
by infinite wisdom; so that the guilty monarch pass- j 
ed judgment on himself, saying, “The man that hath 
done this shall surely die.” The man that could be 
base and selfish enough to violate every' law of God 
and man, by taking his neighbour’s “only lamb which i 




On the Unalterable Love of God . 61 

lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter,” 
to feed a traveller when he had a large flock of his 
own. Such a man, saith he, that could do this, shall 
surely die! it is not fit that such a monster of base¬ 
ness should live! And had this royal delinquent been 
informed that this neighbour thus robbed of his all, 
was a good, a faithful, a devoted friend, and actual¬ 
ly serving his robber, at the hazard of his life; while 
this ingrate, like a prowling wolf, was breaking into 
his unguarded fold and robbing him of his most es¬ 
teemed earthly blessing! had, 1 say, this transgres¬ 
sor been informed of these facts, we may fairly pre¬ 
sume that his indignation would have increased se¬ 
ven fold; he would have been ready to have used a 
form of speech at that time common—“God do so to 
me and more also, if such a man shall live to seethe 
morning light!” But O! how insensible to the horrid 
turpitude of his own crimes, infinitely worse than the 
letter of the parable, of which he supposed some other 
man to be the transgressor; alas! how ready are ma¬ 
ny to cast a stone at an offender when not convict¬ 
ed in their own consciences; but let it be observed, a 
forwardness to condemn others is no proof of inno¬ 
cence, but rather of insensibility and hard-hearted¬ 
ness! It was the case in the accusers of the woman 
taken in adultery, who appears to have found mercy 
at the hand of Christ, and it was evidently the case 
in David! but how must he have tclt ashamed and 
confounded before God and man, when the honest 
prophet shewed him the application of the parable to 
his case, thus—“ Thou art the man'" Thou who hast 
been so ready to devote to death the unfeeling de¬ 
predator, thou art the man that hast done all that my 
parable contains and intends. O! how must the mat¬ 
ter of Uriah and Bathsheba have rushed upon his 
mind, with all the aggravating circumstances, the 
attendant evils of his two capital crimes— adultery and 
murder/ —however insensible before, he was now 
made to feel a truth afterwards uttered by his son So- 
F 


62 


On the Unalterable Lore of God. 


lomon: “A wounded spirit who can bear.” But all 
conquering grace softened his heart, preserved him 
from maltreating, and bowed his soul to the severe 
rebukes of his faithful monitor the prophet, who not 
only told him he was “the man," the guilty rich man, 
who had cruelly robbed the poor man—but, to en¬ 
hance his crimes in his ow n view, he reminds him of 
all the Lord had done for him in anointing him king 
over Israel—delivering him from Saul—giving him 
his house and his wives into his bosom—and then ex¬ 
postulates faithfully with him on the enormity of his 
crimes—in despising the commandment of the Lord— 
murdering his faithful servant and soldier Uriah, and 
defiling his wife. If any crimes could have stopped 
the current of unchangeable love towards a foul back¬ 
slider, one might have supposed that these would: 
their character was extremely heinous, of the highest 
and foulest turpitude. The circumstances under 
which they were committed were peculiarly aggra¬ 
vating, and quite destitute of any extenuating ingre¬ 
dients. But, deep dyed as were his crimes, and tiiey 
were certainly very deep, of a crimson, of a bloody 
hue, yet love divine, all love excelling, love that is 
stronger than death, that love of the Father that did 
not spare his Son, that love of the Son that impelled 
him to give up himself and pour out his soul unto 
death, to be numbered with transgressors, and to bear 
the sin of many—such love is not to be arrested in 
its operations, in its emanations and out-goings to¬ 
wards the guilty—It must not be!—it cannot be!— 
where sin did so grossly abound, to the injury of men 
and the dishonour of God, by giving his enemies so 
great occasion to blaspheme, there did grace much 
more abound to the humbling and restoring the of¬ 
fender—for, let it be observed, that when the prophet 
had proceeded to shew David the great evils he had 
committed, the heavy and severe chastisements he 
had procured to himself, and when the guilty doer, 
from a heart-felt sense of his extreme vileness, was 



On the Unalterable Lore of God . 


03 


brought humbly and honestly to confess the evil of 
his doings thus: “I have sinned against the Lord.” 
Immediately the prophet delivers his consoling mes¬ 
sage from that God against whom David had so great¬ 
ly sinned, even that God who “delights to multiply to 
pardon, and to pass by the transgressions of the rem¬ 
nant of his heritage,” thus: “The Lord hath also put 
away thy sin , thou shall not die." 2 Sam. xii, 13. O 
what astonishing and gracious words! full of grace, 
free, rich, triumphant grace, such “soft words break 
the hone,” and sweetly dissolve the heart of stone!—. 
The proud Pharisee may gnash his teeth, but “grace 
will reign through righteousness unto eternal life, by 
Jesus Christ our Lord,” “who was made sin for us, 
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righte¬ 
ousness of God in him.” 

Thus did the Lord in rich mercy say to David, and 
lie hath said it to thousands, and will say it to thou¬ 
sands more. “Yet 1 am the Lord thy God.” Though 
thou hast done evil as thou could, for which I have 
visited, and will yet v isit with a severe rod; “yet I 
change not—the thoughts of my heart stand fast for 
a thousand generations—I know the thoughts that I 
think towards you—thoughts of peace and not of evil;” 
for “yet (after all) 1 am the Lord thy God, thou shalt 
know no God but me”—“I will purge you from your 
dross and your tin.” Neither pleasures,nor honors,nor 
riches shall be your God. i will bring you to say 
from the heart—“What have I any more to do with 
idols.” “Thou shalt know no God hut me,” for this 
most gracious and all important reason: “There is 
vo Saviour beside rue.” What glorious gospel! what 
soul saving and God honoring truth! That a believ¬ 
ing man should say what have I any more to do with 
idols—or, in the language of Peter, “To whom (else) 
Lord shall we go, thou hast the words of eternal life.” 
This, I say, is in some sense natural, because the sin¬ 
ner has his interest in it; but for tiie ever blessed God 
to resolve, that an unworthy, ungrateful creature, a 


64 


On the Unalterable Love of God. 

creature bent to backslide, should know no God but 
himself, that he would chasten him out of every refuge 
of lies, and not suffer him to settle on his lees final¬ 
ly, because nothing can do him real good, no one 
save him from real evil but himself; “there is no Sa¬ 
viour beside me.” 0! this is matchless grace! 

And while we contemplate this most astonishing, 
grand, and interesting display and triumph of free, 
sovereign, immutable and all-conquering grace, and 
unbounded mercy in Christ to eternal life, towards 
a man so highly favoured and greatly honored, to 
be a prophet and a king, and who had so foully and 
inexcusably transgressed; while, I say, we contem¬ 
plate this illustration of unchangeable love, it is no 
unimportant circumstance to consider that the perpe¬ 
trator of such heinous crimes, contrasted with the 
possession of such superlative favours, was not in his 
future life (after brought to repentance) degraded 
from his high, honorable and important office, either 
that of king, or more especially that of a prophet; 
in which as the sweet singer of Israel, he was till his 
dying day, usefully employed of God, and his labours 
will continue to be abundantly owned of God, to com¬ 
fort all that mourn, until the end of time* witness 
that invaluable poem the 51st psalm, which appears 
to have been wrote immediately after God bad brok¬ 
en his heart for sin, (see the title) in which psalm 
we have the most earnest pleadings for mercy and 
all-subduing grace! the most candid and ingenuous 
confessions of sin and depravity, entreaties for the 
abiding and renewing influence of the holy Spirit; 
and in the 12th verse he pleads cogently with his 
gracious God to restore to him the joys of his salva¬ 
tion, which he had deservedly and painfully lost; but 
not only did he pray for the renewed enjoyment of 
such heavenly and inexpressible pleasures, but to 
shew how much he felt his weakness, and how much 
he desired to be kept in his future life from every 
presumptuous sin and from secret faults, he humbly. 



65 


On the Unalterable Love of God . 

but earnestly, entreats to be kept in the way in which 
he should go; hence lie adds to the former petition 
this most important and equally needful one: “And 
uphold me with thy free Spirit!” and then observe 
what he proposes as the result of God’s answering 
these petitions, “Then will I teach transgressors 
thy ways.” O how would the proud Pharisee chafe 
at this, and how would the leaven of pharisaism in 
good men ferment at a similar declaration and in¬ 
tention now,— Vou teach! they would be ready to ex¬ 
claim, i/o//, who have done so much to dishonor God, 
grieve the godly, and cause the ungodly to triumph; 
you presume to exhort men to walk circumspectly, 
who have walked so loosely yourself; you enforce it 
on men to deny ungodliness and worldly lust, when 
you have done so much evil to gratify your own lusts; 
yes, says the restored penitent, I will teach, I who 
have done all you accuse me of and much more, I will 
take shame to myself who am but a dead dog, see¬ 
ing my life is hid with Christ in God, who “hath put 
away my sin” and said that “I shall not die." f, 
even I, will teach transgressors his ways , even the 
ways of an infinitely gracious God, in chastening, 
and restoring backsliding transgressors; and who 
more fit (I ask) if God see good? I am converted, or 
reconverted may such a one say, why should not I 
try to strengthen my brethren, as an instrument in 
his hands, who “strengthened the spoiled against 
the strong, and taketh the prey from the mighty!” I 
also will teach transgressors who are yet in their 
sins, the way of life; [ will preach Christ the way, 
the truth, and the life, in all the dignity and suita¬ 
bility of his person, the perfection and efficacy of his 
work,—in living obediently —in dying patiently —in 
rising victoriously, and in ascending triumphantly, 
“leadingcaptivity captive, and receiving gifts for men, 
even for the rebellious, that the Lord God might dwell 
amongst us.” This says the man who hath obtained 
health and cure! This I will do, grace enabling me; 
F2 


66 


On the Unalterable Love of God . 

and though many may despise, and some oppose, , it 
shall in tiie issue he evident, that God hath chosen the 
base things of the world, and things which arc des¬ 
pised hath God chosen, with this important object in 
view—that no flesh should glory in h»s presence—but 
that the excellence and the power may evidently ap¬ 
pear to be of God, and not of men!—and these 
things (namely, the foul deeds of God’s own, and the 
extension of mercy to them, in restoring and employ¬ 
ing them for others good,) are written for our in¬ 
struction, on whom the ends of the world are come, 
that we may learn not to be high minded but fear, 
not to despise but pity, not repulsively to say stand by 
thyself, but receive them for Christ’s sake, as God 
hath received them. But, before I dismiss this grand 
illustration and proof of the unalterable love of God, 
towards the objects of his choice in Christ, I must 
notice the confidence that this foul offender, but god¬ 
ly mourner, expresses, that his future efforts will be 
ow ned of God for great usefulness. Then, when 
God is pleased to restore to me the joys of his salva¬ 
tion, and will graciously deign to uphold me w ith bis 
free spirit—“Then will / teach transgressors his 
ways, and sinners shall be converted unto him' 99 This 
some would judge to be the very climax of arrogance, 
that a man who had so basely despised the command¬ 
ment of the Lord, should dare to hope for, and con¬ 
fidently anticipate, such an honorable employ and ex¬ 
tensive usefulness, when so many who arc so holy 
and so good, at least in their ow n eyes, are unemploy¬ 
ed, or, if employed, totally useless. God will have 
it so, that the first may be last, and the last first—the 
one “is as a cloud that drops down fatness,” his 
heart being enriched with mercy and truth, w hile the 
other “is as a cloud without rain”—and who art thou, 
0 man, that repliest against God, who seeth not as 
men see, whose w ays are unsearchable,” and infinite¬ 
ly transcend the ways of men, or David would never 
have been so usefully employed after he had so base- 


67 


On the Unalterable Love of God. 

fy played the traitor, nor would Peter cither, after he 
had so falsely, so profanely, so ungratefully, so wick¬ 
edly denied his Lord, ever been employed “to teach 
and preach Jesus and his unsearchable riches, to 
comfort the mourners, to strengthen his brethren, to 
warn the unruly, and comfort the feeble minded”— 
never, I say, would this have been witnessed, had not 
God’s ways been infinitely above ours, and had lie 
not been determined “to stain the pride of men, and 
commend the riches of his own sovereign grace, by 
shewing forth a pattern of all long suffering,”—not 
in David only, but also in Peter, in w hom we see an 
astonishing proof of the unalterable love of God, which 
is the subject, the pleasing and profitable subject of 
this essay! 

Peter’s conduct appears, to the view of men, but 
little short in criminality to that of Judas, who went 
hardened to his own place, while Peter was melted 
into contrition by a look of divine compassion, and 
most tenderly dealt with by the merciful High Priest 
of our profession, w ho looketh on the heart and excr- 
ciseth compassion on those who are (turned by temp¬ 
tation) out of the w av. And the man who knows “the 
plague of his heart,” and the baneful influence of Sa¬ 
tan’s devices, and the snares of the world, will say 
with gratitude—“Such a High Priest became us”— 
was indispensably needful for us—everlasting shame 
and confusion would have been the consequence if 
we had not had such a High Priest—“a great High 
Priest—higher than the heavens, who ever liveth to 
make intercession,” consecrated to his priestly office 
by the oath of God, even that oetli which made the 
Son a Priest forevermore, according to the power of 
an endless life. This Son, who is king, judge and 
lawgiver, over his own house the church, not only par¬ 
doned his offending servant Peter, but commanded 
him “to feed his sheep, and his lambs, and strengthen 
his brethren,” as a fruit and proof of his love towards 
his Lord. John xxi. 15, 16, if.—and we do not find 


66 On the Unalterable Love of God . 

that this profusion of unchanging love and divine 
compassion was ever abused by Peter or his friends; 
nor does it appear that either friends or foes made 
his former failings matter of reproach against him, 
neither does it appear to have been any hinderancc 
to his usefulness, though his labors were principally 
among the circumcision, a people to w horn the nature 
of his conduct was well known—but it seems that a 
dog was not suffered to move his tongue against him; 
so that we have not only another notable instance in 
the case of Peter, of the unalterable love of God, ex¬ 
emplified in the bearing with, feeling for, and healing 
of a backslider, but in addition to that we have an¬ 
other striking instance of wonderful condescension in 
employing a man who had committed such serious 
offences as an instrument to promote his glory, by 
spreading his truth and his fame in the world, call¬ 
ing in his elect from the four winds of heaven, and 
feeding and strengthening the household of faith! O, 
sirs, look and wonder at this stupendous grace, and 
be assured, as a matter of great encouragement, that 
this is not a solitary instance, “for many such things 
are with him”—and what ought to be the sentiment 
and language of the godly, while with grateful amaze¬ 
ment they are led to contemplate and admire such 
brilliant displays of unfathomable compassion and 
divine sovereignty, either in ancient or modern times? 
but this —“Even so Father , for so it seemed good in 
thy sight ' 99 Thy will be done '* 9 

True it is, that the man who is a mouth for God, 
should be of good report; but this cannot be under¬ 
stood as to bear on the whole of his past life, even 
since he has professed himself a friend of Christ, a 
lover of truth and of good men. If it were so to be 
understood, it would have imposed eternal silence on 
David, on Solomon, on Peter, and on many of the 
most useful in the church of Christ in modern times. 
The man who hateth instruction (to speak in the lan¬ 
guage of scripture) is a wicked man, and ought not 



69 


On the Unutterable Love of God . 

to declare God’s statues, or take bis covenant in his 
mouth, but (to set an extreme case) the broken heart¬ 
ed sinner who fell by sin yesterday , and is restored by 
grace to-day, may teach transgressors God’s ways 
to-morrow, in hope of the conversion of sinners with¬ 
out any infraction of any law of God! Ilis fall may 
by others, and will by the subject himself, be deep¬ 
ly and long regretted and lamented, and all the god¬ 
ly ought from the heart to join in this request to God 
and man—'Fell it not in Gath, publish it not in the 
streets of Askelon, lest the Philistines triumph, lest 
the daughters of the uncircumcised rejoice! yet the 
writer of this feels fully satisfied that the sentiment 
above stated is, and the practice would be, perfectly 
correct, notwithstanding the advocates of the doctrine 
of expediency might suggest a different line of con¬ 
duct, being guided by their own misconception, ra¬ 
ther than the word of God! But to return from 
this digression to the professed sub ject of this essay, 
namely, “The unalterable love of God, as illustrated 
in his bearing with, feeling for. and healing of back¬ 
sliders;” a doctrine not confine ! to a few individual 
insolated cases, but graciously diffused through, and 
blended with, nay more, constituting a material and 
necessary part of “the glorious gospel of the blessed 
God!” We have a most beautiful exemplification of 
this doctrine, in all its interesting particulars, in Jer. 
xxxi. 18, 19, 20.—“I have surely heard Ephraim 
bemoaning himself thus: Thou hast chastised me, and 
I was chastised as a bullock unaccustomed to the 
yoke. Turn thou me, and I shall be turned, for thou 
art the Lord my God. Surely after that 1 was turn¬ 
ed, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I 
smote upon my thigh; J w as ashamed, yea, even con¬ 
founded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth! 
Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a pleasant child?— 
for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remem¬ 
ber him still—therefore my bowels are troubled for 
him; I w ill surely have mercy on him, saith the Lord!” 


70 


On the Unalterable Love of God. 

The character about whom this gracious language is 
employed, had foully offended as a backsliding heifer, 
drawing* back from the yoke—but God “saw his ways, 
and was graciously determined to heal him; but he 
first chastised him as bullocks are chastised when 
they refuse to bow the neck to the yoke; and God so 
accompanied the strokes he inflicted with humbling 
grace, that self-loathing and bemoaning himself en¬ 
sued—but had not God given more grace to soften the 
heart, lie would have gone on frowardly in the way 
of his heart; but when grace operated, the stubborn 
and disobedient heart became contrite, and God kind¬ 
ly notices the fruit of his own grace—“I have surely 
heard Ephraim bemoaning himself!” As the seed de¬ 
posited by the careful seedsman beneath the earth, 
when it has received the fertilizing shower and genial 
influence of the sun, swells, vegetates and bursts the 
incumbent clod, and as leaven hid by the assiduous , 
housewife in the meal, ferments and transfuseth its in¬ 
fluence through the whole mass, so grace, while it 
operates, subdues refractoriness, and kindly produces 
every humble, contrite and suitable disposition of the 
heart, that the subject justifies God and takes shame 
to himself; so did Peter, so did David, so did Ephra¬ 
im; men might have questioned the sincerity of his 
penitential tears, but God acknowledges them, as the 
fruit of his own grace, thus: “I, who cannot err, I 
have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus;” 
and this self loathing was accompanied with a deep 
sense of his helplessness, hence he pleads thus with 
God: “Turn thou me and 1 shall be turned, for thou 
art the Lord my God.” From this petition we may 
learn, that without God we can do nothing. A heart 
to loath oursel ves and bemoan our condition, and pow¬ 
er to turn to him who sniteth us, is from God, and 
the sensible sinner is made to feel it, both in his first 
awakenings and in all his after delinquencies. “Turn 
thou me and l shall be turned,” says the poor back¬ 
slider; and when faith is in exerciso he can add: “For 


71 


On the Unalterable Love of God. 

thou art the Lord my God”—thus supporting Ids 
plea from the consideration of that blessed, gracious 
and indissoluble relationship, subsisting between God 
and himself, or, as the Psalmist words his plea: “I 
am thine, save me”—a plea that is never finally urg¬ 
ed in vain. In the case of Ephraim now under con¬ 
sideration, we find this noble plea was available, God 
granted him the humble and urgent request of bis 
soul, hence we find, in relating bis after experience, 
he says, “Surely, after that I was turned, I repent¬ 
ed;” so did Peter, and wept bitterly too. But when 
did be thus weep? when the Lord his God looked up¬ 
on him, and when Peter looked on him whom he bad 
pierced, then he mourned; bit no man can mourn 
after a godly sort; no man can evangellically repent, 
until divine all-conquering grace has broken and 
turned bis heart; so that every converted sinner, and 
every restored backslider, will say, “Surely after 
that I was turned 1 repented;” and when by all these 
wonderful dealings and teachings of God, be bad 
learned much of bis own vileness, and the exceeding 
sinfulness of sin, of his sin 9 and also much of the su- 
peraboundings of divine compassion, in restoring him 
from the error of bis ways, we find him in a parox¬ 
ysm of godly surprise and astonishment at his own 
baseness, and God’s great goodness, smiting on bis 
thigh, as though he would say, what a wretch to sin 
against so much goodness! what a God in Christ, to 
pardon so much iniquity, trangression and sin! *‘Af- 
; ter I was instructed I smote upon my thigh;” but not 
till he was instructed, he saw nothing, and felt no- 
| thing amiss before; but when God bad “opened bis 
ear for discipline, and sealed his instruction,” then, 
says he, “I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, be¬ 
cause I did bear the reproach of my youth,” 

Thus is the saved sinner and the restored wanderer 
overwhelmed with surprise, shame, confusion and self 
reproach, and sometimes with the reproach of others; 
but to him who is afflicted, pity should be shewed by 



72 On the Unalterable Love of Qod. 

his friends, who ought not to speak to the grief of 
those whom God has wounded. The world indeed 
will do it, not because they disapprobate, much less la¬ 
ment his evil deeds, but because he is delivered from 
them, and says that God is his Father, in Christ.— 
They look upon him as a kind of double deserter; first 
from God to them, and now from them to God; and 
this his last act is, in their estimation, the worst of¬ 
fence-—not knowing or considering that “this turning 
about is from the Lord”—they will therefore reproach 
him, for “the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.” 
But the godly should not reproach the repenting pro¬ 
digal, because their God and Saviour doth not. “He 
giveth (and f< rgiveth) liberally, and upbraideth not.” 

And now, having contemplated the exercise of the 
restored wanderer, under all those operations which 
flow from the unalterable love of God, it is highly im¬ 
portant to observe, how a gracious, sin-forgiving, 
covenant God describes his own feelings on the sub¬ 
ject: ‘IsEphraim my dear son? Is he a pleasant child? 
For since I spake against him, I do earnestly remem¬ 
ber him still—therefore my bowels are trouble for 
him—I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the 
Lord.” Be astonished, 0 heavens, and wonder, O 
earth, at this developement of the fulness of divine 
compassion! This copious emanation of the unalter¬ 
able love of God in Christ! This is indeed “love di¬ 
vine, all love excelling.” The subject contemplated 
is a foul backslider—God rebuking him—speaking 
against him, and chastising him severely for his 
frowardness; and yet, all the while, feeling that sym¬ 
pathy, that commiseration, that working of compas¬ 
sion towards him, that indicated a special relationship 
existing. Hence the Lord stoops to our infirmities, 
and condescendingly enquires—“Is Ephraim my dear 
son? is he a pleasant child? The answer to these 
gracious interrogatories must be in the affirmative; 
anti that will account for all the working of divine 
benevolence and pity. Chosen in Christ before the 




On the Unalterable Love of God . 73 

foundation of the world and made a joint heir with 
him; ami God having loved the chosen vessel of mer¬ 
cy with an everlasting love, he therefore with loving 
kindness drew him, and, because he was thus made a 
Son, he in regeneration and effectual calling, sent forth 
the Spirit of his Son into his heart, crying Abba, Fa¬ 
ther! Hence the subject under the influence of the 
same Spirit in his restoration, is enabled to say: 
‘‘Thou art the Lord my God!” Here then we have a 
full display and proof of unalterable love , in all the 
feelings of divine pity, and all the exercises produced, 
by the Spirit of Grace and supplication, in the heart 
of the poor unworthy offender, who is thus restored 
and healed! Be asto^fshed, O heaven, and w onder, O 
earth, break f<Mh into singing O forest, and every 
tree therein, for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob and 
glorified himself in Israel! he hath remembered the 
forgotten! pitied the uhpitied! brought back the out¬ 
cast! and healed the diseased, whom no man cared 
for! And lest the poor smitten deer, the wounded and 
diseased culprit, standing before the Lord in filthy 
garments, should he discouraged above measure, the 
good Lord, to shew “how great is his goodness,” 
has most kindly instructed him how to conduct his 
suit at a throne of grace! ‘-Take with you w ords and 
turn unto the Lord; say to him, take away a#iniquity 
and receive us graciously, so will we render the calves 
of our lips”—and of ail such who have unhappily fal¬ 
len by their iniquities, hut who are mercifully brought 
thus to plead with God. to renounce their idols, their 
unhallowed attachments of whatever kind, and look 
for the exercise of sovereign mercy, from a covenant 
God, flowing through the blood of Christ, the blood 
of sprinkling, of all such God hath in mercy said: 
“I will heal their backslidings; I w ill love them free¬ 
ly, for mine anger is turned away from them.” Read 
Hosca xiv. 1, 2, 3, 4. And let it be remembered, that 
the word of that God who thus spake by the prophet, 
stands firmer than heaven and earth. “Hath he 
G 


74 


On the Unalterable Love of God. 

spoken, and shall he not do it? Is the word gone out 
of his mouth in righteousness, and shall it return 
void? Is the strength of Israel a man, that he should 
lie? or the Son of Man, that he should repent?” Far 
be it from him who is “a God of truth and without 
iniquity; whose gifts and callings are without repen- l 
tance; who is of one mind, and none can turn him; 
the thoughts of whose heart stand fast for a thou¬ 
sand generations; whose honor is engaged to save the 
meanest of his saints.” Me will chastise for folly— 
for sin—but it is with a special view to our profit, 
that we may he partakers of his holiness. The fruit 
of his rod is to take away sin. It becomes us then to 
kiss the rod, to be in subjection to the Father of spi- j 
rits; arid to be everlastingly thankful, that, through i 
the peace speaking blood of the atonement, all the 
dealings of the divine Majesty with mourners in Zion, j 
arc in mercy, and not in wrath; and that, while they ! 
fully express his abhorrence of sin, and completely 
vindicate the rectitude of his character and govern¬ 
ment, they amply shew that ‘‘he is mindful of the 
covenant, and work together for the good of those 
who love him, who are the called according to his 
purpose;” and shew his love as firm as free; as unal¬ 
terable as his throne, without variableness or shadow of 
turning; and in nothing more strikingly conspicuous, 
more illustriously displayed and unfolded, than in the 
subject of this essay, namely, bearing with , feelingfor , 
and healing poor unhappy backsliders , who are often 
despised and rejected of men, even good men, as well 
as bad. “From sinner and from saint they meet with 
many a blow r —Their own had heart creates them 
smart, which none but God doth know.” But, though 
thus treated by men, they are pitied by him who is 
emphatically, “The good Shepherd ,” and careth for 
his own!” who can, and doth have compassion “on 
those who are out of the way!” The current language 
of whose w ord is “return unto me ye backsliding chil¬ 
dren, for I am married unto you;” yes, married in 



75 


On the Unalterable Love of God. 

“a perpetual covenant that cannot be broken/* a co¬ 
venant that is well ordered in all things and sure!” 
I have been disposed to treat on this subject* from a 
conviction of its real importance; from the too well 
known fact, that not a few of the frail and sin depra¬ 
ved family of God, arc in circumstances so unhappy 
as to need it; and also from a painful conviction that 
many, very many preachers cannot in a proper and 
judicious manner treat on it, that many others will 
not (being very desirous to be thought much better 
than they really are) and that all are far too remiss 
and use but very sparing efforts to “bring back that 
which is driven away, to heal that which is sick, and 
strengthen that which remains,” but our compassion¬ 
ate High Priest, our unchangeable God, the great 
and good physician of souls, brings to such maimed 
and diseased patients, “health and cure, and cures 
them;” and now what shall I say more: doth not the 
view here taken, however brief and imperfect, give 
the most endearing and sin killing representation of 
divine compassion—of forbearance infinite—of pity 
unheard of—of love unchangeable!—And does it not 
afford the most heart relieving encouragement to a 
wounded spirit; most happily calculated, when bless¬ 
ed of God, to induce and encourage the sell re¬ 
proaching mourner, patiently to wait, and quietly to 
hope, for the salvation of God; even that God who 
never did, nor never will, “despise nor abhor the af¬ 
flictions of the afflicted; but when he cries he hears; 
even the sighing of the needy, and delivers him, and 
sets him in safety from him that puffeth at him,” and 
even sometimes enables the poor soul who is cast 
down wounded, to anticipate deliverance with confi¬ 
dence. “Rejoice not against me, ,0 mine enemy, 
though 1 fall I shall arise, though I sit in darkness, 
the Lord shall be a light unto me!” Let then the 
poor soul who is sighing and groaning for deliver¬ 
ance, who, like Ephraim, is ashamed of his base in¬ 
gratitude, yea even confounded with self reproach; 


76 


On the Unalterable Love of God. 

let such a one mourn sore like a dove: let him put his | 
mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope; let him 
lament with David the loathsome disease that cleaves 
to him, and let him weep bitterly with Peter; but 
while he thus mourns his wretchedness, and pleads 
for emancipation, let him not sorrow as without hope; 
but rather be encouraged to stand still and see the 
salvation of God: for he that shall come will come, 
and will not tarry! Even so come Lord Jesus, come 
quickly! 

Thus love unchanging, free and rich. 

Meets and relieves the sinking wretch, 

Who well deserv’d to die! 

Forbears with patience infinite, 

The daring rebel’s soul to smite, 

Nor lets his arrows fly! 

In mercy visits with the rod, 

To bring the wand’rer back to God, 

With broken heart and bones; 

But while he smites remembers still 
His Son, who died on Calvary’s hill, 

Whose blood for sin atones! 

That blood doth cleanse where’er appli’d. 

The heart with crimson crimes deep dy’d, 

And brings it health and cure! 

Then doth the culprit pass from death, 

And praise employs his grateful breath, 

Because salvation’s sure! 

Not praise alone, but deep complaints 
And ardent prayer he pours, 

And softly creeps among the saints, 

And prostrate—Grace adores! 

He’s black, he knows, as Kedar’s tents, 

By sin throughout defil’d; 

But through rich grace his heart relents. 

That sin hath him beguiled, 

He pleads that hence the crooked path 
Of folly he may shun, 

By love constrain’d and led by faith* 

In ways of truth to run! 










On the Unalterable Love of God. 

So shall lie never be ashamed, 

Though shame to him belong, 

Shame and dismay for crimes unnam’d, 
For passions base and strong! 

O! let the humble hear thereof, 

The humble when they’re sad, 

’Twill them support when scorners scoff, 
And make their spirits glad. 

Do thou, Great King, whose potent arm, 
Gan Satan, world and flesh disarm, 

Thy strength in weakness shew. 
Deliverance work—break ev’ry snare, 
And bless us always with thy fear, 

And prove thy promise true! 
Salvation’s joys, dear Lord, restore, 

And let thy spirit evermore 
Our erring souls uphold. 

Then to transgressors vile and base, 

Shall all thy ways, thou God of grace, 
With zeal and love be told! 


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A NUMBER OF PJEDOB ARTISTS OBJECTIONS ANSWERED, 
And their Fallacious Reasonings Exploded . 


Should not the multitude of words be answered.—Job xi. 2. 

-•Wliat saith the Scripture?” “Relieve and be Baptized” 

“And if it be not so now who will make me a liar, and make my 
speech nothing worth.”—Job xxiv. 25. 


The general practice of Paedobaptists in searching 
after information from Jewish rites and ceremonies, to 
discover the true nature and proper subjects of an ordi¬ 
nance confessedly a Christian one, seems strongly to 
intimate the weakness of that cause which needs such 
support; and no doubt a conviction that the New Tes¬ 
tament will not avail them, leads men into a long 
train of analogical reasonings to produce far fetched 
inferences, inductions, and results, that are vague 
and uncertain, yea worse, they are evidently falla¬ 
cious. These are expedients to which the Baptist 



go Believers Baptism. 

never lias occasion to resort. Observe once for all. 
Gospel institutions differ very materially from gospel 
truths, in this respect especially. Gospel truths are 
dispersed through the whole scriptures, and are to 
be sought for from Genesis to Revelation; not so gos¬ 
pel ordinances, they a re, positive institutions, appoint¬ 
ed by the great head of the church, and altogether un¬ 
known before the Christian era; their appointment 
and practice exclusively appertaining to the kingdom 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

The ceremonial law was indeed a shadow of many 
good and great things to come, but the body or sub¬ 
stance of those shadows is of Christ. But it cannot 
be admitted, because it cannot be proved, that any of 
the old ceremonies, either Abrahamic or Levitical, 
were types of New Testament positive institutions; 
Circumcision was no more a type of baptism than 
was the pascal lamb of the Lord’s Supper. I he first 
was a figure of the circumcision of the heart, or re¬ 
generation by the Spirit. The last was a beautiful 
type of the crucifixion of Christ, and the benefits 
that flow from it to the election of grace, the true Is¬ 
rael of God; on the other hand, baptism and the 
Lord’s Supper are not types of any thing. They 
Lave nothing in their primary nature prospective, 
but are purely retrospective, not looking or pointing 
to what will he, but referring- to what lias been. The 
Lord’s Supper doubtless refers to the sufferings of 
the Lord, when his body was broken and his blood 
shed for sin, and is a most gracious memorial of that 
all interesting transaction, in the administration and 
participation of which, his people have their confi¬ 
dence in him strengthened, their love to, and fellow¬ 
ship with him and one another promoted. “Do this 
as oft as ye do it in remembrance of roe.” And bap¬ 
tism as evidently refers to, and is a striking repre¬ 
sentation of, the death, burial, and resurrection of 
Christ. The faith of the person baptized in those all 
important realities, and of his own spiritual death 



Believers Baptism. 


81 


to sin, burial to the world, and resurrection to new¬ 
ness oflifc. On these points tlie following scriptures 
are most explicit, Rom. vi.3,4, 5. “Know you not, 
that so many of you as were baptized into Jesus 
Christ, were baptized into bis death. Therefore ye 
are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as 
Christ w as raised up from the dead by the glory of 
the Father, even so we also should walk in newness 
of life.” In this portion of the word we have a re¬ 
presentation of a burial by baptism: « buried with 
Christ by baptism ” How clear, how emphatic. We 
have also a representation of a resurrection. «That 
like us Christ (in like manner) as Christ was raised 
from the dead;” 6 so we (being raised from that sem¬ 
blance of death and a burial) should walk in newness 
of life.” First planted in the likeness of his death; 
then raised in the likeness of his resurrection, and 
walk as living subjects of that resurrection, clear, 
unequivocal, and explicit as this passage of holy 
writ is; yet if need be, and if it be possible, Col. ,'i, 12. 
is more explicit, particularly as to baptism, being a 
striking semblance of a resurrection, whether it be 
Christ’s resurrection, or the believing subject of bap¬ 
tism, it is the same. Thus it reads: “ Buried with him 
by baptism , wherein also ye are risen with him.” Now 
observe this last clause in particular. Believers are 
first said to be buried with Christ by baptism, and 
then it is affirmed thus: “ Wherein (or in which bap¬ 
tism) ye are risen with him through the faith of the 
operation of God.” That is to say, in the exercise 
of that faith, which was produced in their hearts by 
the special and operative influence of the Holy 
Ghost, they were enabled to understand the true 
nature of that baptism with which they were bap¬ 
tized, as aptly representing (among other things) a 
burial and resurrection. Here is every thing clear 
and plain, so that he who runs may read—No criti¬ 
cising on a Greek word or two, of which the w ay¬ 
faring men (in general) know nothing—no reverting 


82 


Btlievers Baptism . 


back several thousand years before the existence of 
that dispensation to which the ordinance of baptism 
exclusively belongs, for a far fetched inference trom 
the Abraliamic covenant—but instead of this circuit¬ 
ous, and i may add, unfair procedure, we have in the 
passages now remarking on, the words of the Holy 
Ghost!—words too, it must be observed, which are 
used expressly on the subject. I would now ask, if 
the mode and design of Christian baptism is so clear, 
so explicit and so unequivocal, in these passages of 
holy writ, which, by the bye, are the statute laws, or 
illustrations of the statute laws of Christ’s kingdom, 
given by him as the head and law giver of his church, 
how comes it to pass (I ask') that Psedobaptists, in 
general, when they are professedly instructing the 
people in the design of baptism, should overlook, and 
apparently keep hack, facts so obvious, and exclu¬ 
sively direct the attention of their hearers and read¬ 
ers to some other view of the subject—some view 
which may appear to comport with their practice. 
Such as refering them to a passage like this: “I will 
sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be 
clean;” or to the various sprinklings appointed under 
the Levitical law, or at best, to “the blood of sprink¬ 
ling, that speaketh better things than the blood of 
Abel.” But unfortunately for the advocates of the 
sprinkling practice, there is no mention made of bap¬ 
tism, nor is the ordinance of Christian baptism once 
associated with any of these circumstances, nor do 
the terms in which the ordinance is expressed, ever 
imply sprinkling, or even pouring; but uniformly 
dipping, plunging, immersing, and so on, as is well 
known by all candid and well informed Psedobaptists, 
as I may have occasion to notice in this essay. I have 
asked how it is that Psedobaptists act thus; apparent¬ 
ly shunning the scriptural and obvious view and de¬ 
sign of the ordinance, and bringing forward something 
foreign and merely allusive, and that not correctly. 
And I must say that there appears no reason for such 



Believers Baptism . 


83 


a line of conduct, but the following too obvious one, 
namely:—A conviction that there is nothing in the 
sprinkling of an infant that has the remotest sem¬ 
blance or likeness to a burial ora resurrection, nor is 
there any thing in the subject of this (supposed) bap¬ 
tism (namely, the infant,) that looks like a partaker 
of the faith of the operation of God, practising an in¬ 
stitution appointed by the head of the church, for the 
observance of his believing people, and that too, as 
the first act of their obedience, upon or after believ¬ 
ing. “Believe and be baptized,” is the order of 
Christ’s house, and it is much to be wished, that as 
Ptedobaptist ministers will not, or at least do not, 
present to their hearers correct views of this ordi¬ 
nance, that the godly among their hearers would 
cease to put confidence in a guide, and search the 
scriptures, and (praying for divine instruction) so¬ 
berly reflect on the subject for themselves, and espe¬ 
cially that parents, who may contemplate taking their 
beloved offspring to their minister to be christened, 
that such should first search and see if such a practice 
is required at their hands, and whether they can make 
the practice comport with the scriptural representa¬ 
tion of the ordinance, as to mode and subject, and if 
Uod disposes their hearts honestly to make his word 
tin man of their counsel. I promise myself they will 
hesitate before they act, and [ hope forbear to do that 
which Vs no less than a profanation of the divine name 
to a device of man, that the scripture knows nothing 
about, and contains neither precept nor example on 
the subject. So decidedly is this the. fact, that the 
Papal hierarchy, the mother of abominations, is ob¬ 
liged to confess, and does confess herself indebted to 
tradition , to prove the validity of the baptism of in¬ 
fants. But while there is positively nothing in the 
practice of sprinkling, that conforms in any degree 
with the before cited passages, Rom. vi. 3, 4, 5. Col. 
ii. 12. it is worth observing how very close the fact 
corresponds with the design, when believing men ami 


Believers Baptism . 


women are baptized by immersion. Whoever has 
witnessed believers baptism, might have read (as it 
were) the language of holy writ, in that which 
they beheld with their eyes. But it seems impossible 
for a by stander at the ceremony of infant sprink¬ 
ling to relate what lie saw in the language of scrip¬ 
ture. 1 will suppose a man to attempt it in a simple 
manner, and his relation must run nearly as follows: 
We have had a child christened at church to-day— 
Two or three friends came forward and delivered 
a young child into the arms of the minister, and after 
he had received it, he dipped, plunged or immersed 
h is fingers in a bason of water, and calling the little 
stranger by some name, he told him he baptized him 
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost, and as he so expressed himself, (to the 
infant , which did not appear to understand h rn,J he 
dropt or sprinkled a few drops of water on the little 
one’s lorehead, and then returned it to those from 
whom lie received it. Now I ask, in the name of 
common sense, in the name of truth, 1 ask, what could 
the hearer of such a faithful narration recognise, 
that bears the remotest analogy to a positive institu¬ 
tion in the gospel church, (except indeed the use, or 
rather misuse, perhaps I might say abuse of the names 
of the divine persons i and while 1 wish Paedobapt&ts 
to look soberly on this ceremony, and view and con¬ 
template its puerility, its absurdity, its total want of 
authority, from the figures used in scripture, and 
from either precept or example, I would Veg on ■ Ite 
other hand, as it is much to be wished, that S’sedo- 
baptists would seriously contemplate the administra¬ 
tion of the ordinance of believers baptism, and if they 
have not seen it, and slum seeing it/let them candid¬ 
ly attend to the relation of some friend who has seen * 
it. and who will in proper language relate what lie 
saw ami heard, and it will be found that his detail will 
be as follows:—'There has been a man baptized to¬ 
day. The minister and the man to be baptized came 


Believers Baptism. 


85 


to the margin of the water, and after a gospel address, 
praying and singing, the minister took the man by 
the hand, and they went sedately down into the wa¬ 
ter, both the minister and the man, and then the min¬ 
ister addressed himself to the man thus: Brother, on 
a profession of your faith in Christ, I baptize thee in 
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost. So saying, he baptized him by immers¬ 
ing him in the water, and then they came up out of 
the water, both the minister and the baptized man, 
and they retired and I saw them no more. Now I 
ask any man who reads his Rible, on hearing this 
simple and correct narration, if lie would not immedi¬ 
ately recognise, and be ready to exclaim, this agrees 
exactly with the account we have of Philip baptizing 
the eunuch. Acts viii. 87, 38, 39. Yes, indeed, it was 
designed so to do, to be a counter part,.a mere copy 
of the original practice. In this the Baptists hold it 
their duty and honor to be mere copyists—to say with 
Paul, “I have delivered unto you that which I also 
received;” not from Moses nor from Abraham, but 
“from the Lord;” and happy is it for that church that 
keeps the ordinances as they were delivered to the 
first churches, by the Lord and his apostles. 

The frivolous attempts which have been so often 
made to prove the right of children to baptism, are as 
fruitless as they are frivolous: They are mostly 
drawn from the Old Testament practice of circum¬ 
cision; but even in this ordinance we can perceive no¬ 
thing like a right in the subject: for it was not a 
privilege granted to unconscious children, but a duty 
enjoined on the parents: “Ye shall circumcise your 
male children on the eighth day.” This was a na¬ 
tional badge, a duty common to every Israelite, good 
or bad; it was one of those carnal ordinances that 
was by God imposed or enjoined on that people un¬ 
til the time of reformation, and as a punishment to 
the disobedient parent, w ho neglected this ordinance, 
the child was to be qut off’. Circumcision then was 
H 


86 


Believers Baptism . 


an act of obedience of the parent (to whom the com¬ 
mand speaks) and not an act of obedience in the 
child, which was unconscious of any law, and alto¬ 
gether passive, but baptism is an act of obedience of 
the subject of baptism; to him the command is di¬ 
rected, “Arise and be baptized.” “Repent and be 
baptized.” To him also who is the subject of bap¬ 
tized, is the privilege granted. “If thou believest , 
thou mayest be baptized .” Acts viii. 37. Observe 
from these remarks the essential difference in the two 
institutions and their subjects; and further, circum¬ 
cision was national—Every Israelite, good or bad, 
was bound to circumcise his sons, whether he feared 
God, or feared him not; but what nation under hea¬ 
ven, as a nation, arc commanded to be baptized, much 
less to baptize their sons.—Individuals of all nations 
are commanded to be baptized, on their being brought 
to “repentance toward God and faith in our Lord 
Jesus Christ,” but not before; for it must be observ¬ 
ed that baptism is the obedience of faith, not of the 
law. Moral commands and gospel institutions differ 
essentially. The former are obligatory on all men, at 
all times, and under all circumstances. Jewish rites 
and ceremonies were obligatory only on the Jews, and 
such proselites as were identified with that nation, and 
that only for a time—“Until the time of reformation; 
until the seed should come.” But baptism and the 
Lord’s Supper are institutions to be observed until 
the end of the world, but they call for obedience on¬ 
ly from the household of faith; they are binding on 
no others, for they are not enjoined on men as men, 
but as repenting, as believing men. So that we have 
no charge to exhibit against an unbeliever, because 
he is not baptized, and does not partake of the Lord’s 
Supper; so far from it, both ordinances are withheld 
from him until he makes a profession, and gives evi¬ 
dence that he is a partaker of that faith which puri- 
fieth the heart and works by love. How absurd then 
must all attempts at analogical reasoning be on sub- 




Believers Baptism, 


87 


jccts between which there is no analogy. Abraham 
and his sons are surely not types of professed Chris¬ 
tians and their children, their sons and their daugh¬ 
ters, no certainly not, Abraham was a type (in the 
offering of his son) of the divine Father; but in his 
general character I think he was a type of Christ. 
Isaac was ev idently a type of the church, in his being 
devoted to be sacrificed, and in being delivered by 
the substitution of the ram which was caught by his 
own act, which ram was a glorious type of Christ, 
who by his own act voluntarily engaged himself to 
redeem his church from death, and from the curse of 
the law, and every tiling implied in that curse! “1 
lay down my life for my sheep, no man taketh it 
from me, I lay it down of myself.*’ Again, infant Is¬ 
raelites as the seed of Abraham, are surely not types 
ofour infants, but rather of babes in Christ, that seed 
that is to serve him in the newness of the Spirit, 
and not in the oldness of the letter, yielding to him 
that obedience which a new and spiritual dispensa¬ 
tion calls for, and that under the influence of new 
principles; not being under the law’ of ceremonies, 
nor under the law of works, as the ministration of 
death, but under grace. Further, the nation of the 
Jews, as the descendants of Abraham, appears to be a 
type of the election of grace, who are brought to be¬ 
lieve through grace, and their little ones appear to 
be types of those children of the true Zion which she 
labours to bring forth, and which she docs bring 
forth unto God, “who are born not of blood, nor of 
the will of man, nor of the flesh, but of God: and 
who, “as new born babes, desire the sincere milk of 
the word, that they may grow thereby.” Now, my 
friends, if these tilings are so, how is it that men 
possessed of so many advantages, will still persist 
in a mode of reasoning so evidently groundless? Is it 
to be understood as a tacit acknowledgment, that 
they have nothing better to offer? This doubtless is 
the fact, for the subjects advanced by tlies^ ingenious 


88 


Believers Baptism . 


Psedobaptist analogical reasoners, have no founda¬ 
tion in the New Testament: there is no precept en¬ 
joining, nor any example to be found, in the whole 
code of New Testament laws, or their application to 
practice, by the apostles, for the baptizing of infants 
in any way, or the baptizing of any subject, infant 
or adult, by sprinkling; the advocates for such prac¬ 
tices have time and often been challenged to produce 

them, but have never yet been able, and we may say 
with confidence they never will: for, as Solomon says, 
“that which is wanting, cannot be numbered!” \Ve 
may then safely affirm, that the strenuous, laborious, 
and voluminous hunting for analogy is of necessity! 
But it is fruitless, except to mislead the unwary, the 
indolent, and the weak; for no analogy that can avail 
exists. 

There is but one point of the remotest agreement 
between circumcision and infant sprinkling, which 
is that of attending to them both in infancy. The 
Jewish rite must be performed by express command 
on the eighth day; but Psedobaptists attend to their 
ceremonies the eighth day, or eighth week, or month, 
or even year, as it seems good in their eyes; and 

then, when they do attend to them, we are told by 
some that these great results follow, namely—That 
the subject is made a child of God! a member of 
Christ! and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven! 
Very grand assertions; but unfortunately very false, 
and awfully deceptive. Others less heterodox tell us, 
that the child by baptism (as they call sprinkling) j 
becomes a member of the visible church by virtue of 
the parents faith! But, 1 think, it must be acknow¬ 
ledged that in many instances the parents themselves 
are destitute of faith, and if they are so happy as to 
be partakers of faith, to the saving of their own souls, 
their faith in this instance must needs he good for 
nothing, for here is no record, no word of faith, no 
promise, and faith to he good and available must re¬ 
fer to a divine record, a divine promise. But it may 



Believers Baptism. 


89 


be asked what membership can a child have in the 
church of Christ? Let it be remembered that the 
church of Christ is his body, and each believer is a 
particular member of that body. But can an unbe¬ 
liever be a member of Christ’s body? Certainly not. 
Then, by consequence, not a member of iiis church, 
which is his body. But the Psedobaptists will say, 
such may be members of his visible body. Observe, 
Christ’s mistical body comprises those only, who, 
through grace, really and in truth believe in him; 
while what is called his visible body, or church, com¬ 
prises all who profess to believe in him, whether they 
so believe in truth or not. But the Psedobaptists give 
the Saviour a more defective body than this; for they 
maintain that those are members of his body who do 
not nor cannot make even such a profession, and who, 
they believe in their hearts, are quite destitute of any 
good thing toward the Lord, and, as a proof that 
they so think, they deny their communion at the 
Lord’s table. So here is exhibited the strange ano¬ 
maly of membership without communion. Are not 
these things glaring inconsistencies? A member, not 
under any censure, denied communion. But why? Be¬ 
cause not a Christian; so that the baptized member is 
confessedly an infidel, according to their own shew¬ 
ing. 

Psedobaptists appear to think, that not to baptize 
children is to be criminally negligent of their soul’s 
welfare. But to make this appear, they should shew 
us that God hath required it at their hands. Surely 
sprinkling a child is not what the word means by 
“training a child in the nurture and admonition of 
the Lord.” Cannot a Baptist pray for his children, 
and with his children? Cannot he instruct them from 
the word of God, and set a good example before them? 
Cannot he take them to the house of God to hear his 
word, &c.? Yes, surely; and notwithstanding the 
great and much to be regretted neglect of many, yet 
I believe that Baptists who have believed through 
H2 


90 


Believers Baptism . 

grace, with the heart unto righteousness, and who 
have, with the mouth, made confession unto salvation, 
are (at least) as diligent in every good word and work 
as their feilow Christians of any other denomination. 
They know well, as all do who know the truth, that 
they can do nothing efficiently to effect their conver¬ 
sion—but this ought not, and I hope it does not (at 
least generally) paralize their instrumental efforts. 
But if, with all the professed candor and moderation 
of some of our opponents, and with all the fiery zeal 
of some others, attempts are to be perpetually made 
to seduce us from the truth, by altering the reading 
of every passage of holy writ, that in its present ren¬ 
dering presents insuperable obstacles in the way of 
the Psedobaptists, then indeed we are in a bad pre¬ 
dicament; for if it be lawful and right for every smat- 
terer in Greek to beguile or perplex the mere Eng¬ 
lish reader, by contending that to go down into the 
water, should be read to go down to the water, and 
to come up out of the water, should be read to come 
up from the water, and other similar and equally er¬ 
roneous alterations, then indeed the simple Christian 
may be for ever tossed about with every w ind of doc¬ 
trine. But let it be observed by way-faring men, (for 
whom I write) that the alterations here noticed, as 
made by the Psedobaptists, are not the most natural 
rendering of the Greek words, but that only which 
the words in some connections would bear; the ab¬ 
surdity of the arguments drawn from such forced 
translations to support an unscriptural practice is 
sufficiently obvious—but instead of citing the author¬ 
ity of individual Greek scholars, 1 will content myself 
with asking our opponents this question: How came 
it to pass that the translators of the Bible could not 
make these discoveries? They were not Baptists, and 
therefore cannot be suspected of being misled by any 
predilection for the Baptists’ views. But, though not 
Baptists, they were profound scholars and honest 
men, (though not infallible) and their numbers very 


Believers Baptism. &i 

considerable; and they have given us a reading that 
the Ecedobaptists of every name are confounded with! 
but with which tiie Baptists are well pleased and fully 
satisfied! 

The truth is, that very many of the wisest and best 
of the Psedobaptists have acknowledged that immer¬ 
sion upon believing was practised by the apostles and 
primitive Christians, and that infant baptism was ne¬ 
ver attempted until the third century, when it w as im¬ 
mediately opposed by one Tertullian; and although it 
continued to take increasing root under the power of 
the man of sin, through the fourth and fifth centuries, 
yet the English churches were preserved from it, till 
Gregory the seventh, bishop, (or rather pope) of Rome, 
sent that artful and bloody fox. Austin the Monk, into 
England in the year o96; and it appears pretty clear 
and'evident, that children were for a long time bap¬ 
tized by immersion, and not by sprinkling; for long 
after the corruptions of popery bad introduced infant 
baptism, the framers of the Kubrick of the Episcopal 
church of England, appointed their fonts to he made 
large enough to admit the immersion of the child; and 
to this day it is a standing law of that establishment, 
that the priest shall dip the child in the water of the 
font, except the parents or others shall vouch that the 
child’s health will not admit of immersion without 
danger, then, and only then, according to their ca¬ 
non laws, the priest is permitted , not commanded , to 
sprinkle. It is true, in the modern built churches, 
both in England and in this city, the fonts, as they 
arc called, are far too small for immersion. So suc¬ 
cessful has the priesthood been in “teaching for 
doctrines the commandments of men,” that it is no un¬ 
common thing to hear blind guides, pointing to the 
font, say, “there stands the laver of regeneration.” 
If such blind leaders of the blind, were regenerated 
themselves by the agency of the Spirit and the in¬ 
strumentality of the word of God, they would know 
that the all important work was not effected by a few 


) 


93 


ntutvers Baptism . 


drops of water from the font, nor at the font, but to 
leave them in his hands who will deal with blind 
watchmen and greedy wolves according to his sove¬ 
reign pleasure and return to the subject of this essay, 
and resume these desultory observations, by asking 
the following question: If sprinkling was the apos¬ 
tolic practice or method, how are we to account for 
John’s being said to baptize at Enon, for this plain 
reason—there was much water there? So the sext 
reads: “John was baptizing at Enon, near to Salem, 
because there was much water there!” John iii. Here 
let it be observed, we have no need of either Greek 
or geographical criticisms, to make us believe that 
there was not much water at Enon, although the 
words of the Holy Spirit, which are rendered into 
plain English, and cannot well he misunderstood, in¬ 
form us that there was, and on that account was se¬ 
lected by the venerable Baptist, as a convenient place 
for the administration of the ordinance. 

When we so uniformly find repenting- —believing— 
receiving the word—rejoicing in God—and such like 
expressions accompanying, nay go before baptism, 
we are constrained to believe that such subjects only 
as did so believe, repent, See. were baptized, especial¬ 
ly as we find no one passage in which Christian bap¬ 
tism is introduced or enforced that children are once 
named as the subjects thereof, or in which parents 
are commanded or instructed to have their children 
baptized. The obvious truth of these remarks per¬ 
plexes the Psedobaptists, and drives them as a last 
shift to hunt for children in the house of the Philip¬ 
pian jailor 9 of Lydia , and of Cornelias , but they have 
not yet been so successful as to find any. As to Cor¬ 
nelius, who was a Roman < fficer, the probability is, 
that he had none about him but soldiers; but be that 
as it may, it is very evident that those, who were bap¬ 
tized had received the Holy Ghost. And Peter proves 
the propriety of their being baptized on that, ground, 
and on that only. Acts x. 47,48, “Can any man for- 


Believers Baptism* §3 

bid water, that these should not be baptized, who 
have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? and lie 
commanded them to be baptized in the name of the 
Lord.”—Thus much for Cornelius. I think a man 
must have a wonderful penetration to find any chil¬ 
dren baptized here. 

As to Lydia, it does not even appear that she had 
either children or a husband. But one thing’does evi¬ 
dently appear, that Lydia was baptized on the recep¬ 
tion of truth, and being judged to be faithful, “the 
Lord opened her heart to attend” to truth, and after 
she was baptized she addresses the apostles thus: “If 
you have judged me to be faithful, come into my 
house.” Acts xvi. 14, 15. Now if Lydia was bap¬ 
tized on the reception of truth, and being judged to 
be faithful, the fair inference is, that whoever else 
was baptized in her house, were baptized on the same 
grounds—both she and her household were sinners 
alike in the sight of God, and if all were enabled to 
believe in him, in whom the Gentiles trust, then all 
were proper subjects of baptism; but not otherw ise, 
for so runs the apostolic commission: “Preach the 
gospel to every creature—he that believeth and is 
baptized shall be saved”—and further, the gospel 
dispensation knows nothing of the parent receiving 
any blessing or doing any act or duty in the name 
of the child, or of the child receiving any thing in the 
right of the parent. 

As to the case of the jailor, it is clear on the face 
of the history, that whoever constituted his house, they 
were such as had had the word of God spoken to them, 
and had believed and rejoiced in God. Acts xvi. 32, 
53, 34. They could not then be infants. And it may 
be here observed, once for all, that the terms house 
and household, do not necessarily include children, 
even where the parties have children. Hence we 
read, Gen. xviii. 19. thus: “I know Abraham that he 
will command his children , and his household alter 
him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord.” Now 


94 


Believers Baptism . 


here is an evident distinction between children and 
household , which l wish to be particularly noticed, 
for it is plain from hence that its being said that 
Lydia’s household were baptized, and the jailor’s 
house, proves nothing in favor of infant baptism, even 
although it could be proved that, like Abraham, they 
had children. Observe the terms of distinction: *• IIis 
children , and his household ; 99 &tn\ further, it cannot well 
be conceived, when we have such frequent mention of 
men and women being baptized, but that if there had 
been any children, it would have been named. We 
should have heard, as we do in the Old Testament, 
of their little ones, of their children, &c.—but no; 
nothing of the kind once occurs, for this plain reason: 
Every thing under the gospel is personal and nothing 
federative. Personal conversion only , constitutes the 
Christian. Mere descent from Abraham and circum¬ 
cision constituted an Israelite, and conferred nation¬ 
al, and even religious privileges, in which the uncir¬ 
cumcised Gentile could not participate. But now the 
middle wall is broken down and descent is nothing. 
It is now of no avaiTto say, “We have Abraham for 
our father. “Circumcision is nothing, uncircumci- 
sion is nothing; but a new creature, whether he be 
bond or free, near or far off, even as many as the Lord 
our God shall call, to the fellowship of his Son,” and 
no more. “The Lord knnweth them that are his, 
and whom he foreknew them he also called, and whom 
lie called, them he justified, and whom he justified, 
them he glorified.” And this prescience, this fore¬ 
knowledge, and foreordination of God, is the seal of 
Ills foundation: that is, they render valid and irrevo¬ 
cable that foundation which he lias laid. “The foun¬ 
dation of God standeth sure, having this seal , the 
Lord knoweth them that are his, and let every one 
(adds the apostle) that nameth the name of Christ 
depart from iniquity.” The Psedobaptists are ex¬ 
tremely fond of searching for other seals. Sometimes 
they represent the partaking of the Lord's Supper as 


95 


Believers Baptism . 

sealing covenant with God; sometimes they consider 
baptism as a seal, and the same is said of the old rite 
of circumcision; but the scripture certainly knows 
nothing of these things. I have just shewn that the 
foundation of God hath a seal, which is this: “The 
Lord knoweth them that are his.” Believers are also 
said to be “sealed with the holy spirit of promise.” 
But first there is a hearing of the word of truth, the 
gospel of salvation, then a “trusting in Christ,” and 
then follows the sealing of the spirit. This renders all 
valid in the believers state—for the sealing is “an 
earnest of inheritance,” and is to continue till God’s 
gracious purposes of mercy are complete. “Until the 
redemption of the purchased possession.” And it is 
by this firm, stable process that God promotes his own 
everlasting honor, “to the praise of his own glory.” 
Eph. i. IS, 14. Again: we read of a seal in the case 
of Abraham, Rom. iv. 1 f.—but it is not a seal of any 
covenant, for observe circumcision is there said to be 
“a seal of that righteousness of the faith which he 
had, yet being uncircumcised.” Circumcision is in¬ 
deed said to be “a token (but not a seal) of the cove¬ 
nant” between Abraham and God. Gen. xvri. 11.— 
That is, I presume, a badge or sign as Paul hath it, 
Rom. iv. 11. to distinguish Abraham’s descendants 
from Alieus to the commonwealth of Israel. 

Those therefore who are so much in the habit of 
talking about sealing covenant with God, would do 
well to consider seriously what they are doing, for it 
appears to be evidently erroneous and somewhat dan¬ 
gerous, to represent any act of the creature which is 
an act of obedience, to any moral or positive law, as 
rendering valid or secure any covenant, or covenant 
blessing, inasmuch as it diverts the mind of the sinner 
from the true ground of all hope, and all stability, 
namely, the blood and obedience of Christ, and the 
oath and promise of God. And if baptism or the Lord’s 
Supper are seals of the covenant of grace, w hat is to 
become of those Christians who, for want of better 



96 


Believers Baptism. 


light, or from other motives more illaudable, neglect 
both baptism and the Lord’s Supper. It is therefore 
much to be regretted, that arty should be found propa¬ 
gating sentiments, and pursuing practices, that have 
no foundation by precept or precedent, in the glorious 
gospel of the blessed God. And I think it equally to 
be regretted, that so little zeal is manifested in the 
cause of truth by those who say they “esteem ail God’s 
precepts concerning all things to be right.” 

The Psedobaptists raise objections to the practice 
of immersion, from the difficulties they fancy to exist. 
Sometimes from want of convenient water; sometimes 
from the numbers said to be baptized. But while no¬ 
thing short of absolute impossibility could justify 
such kind of objections, in the face of so much clear 
and explicit evidence, it may be said with truth, that 
the objections are of that nature, that it requires no 
small degree of charity, to believe the objectors sin¬ 
cere in making them. First, as to sufficient water 
for immersion. When numbers were to be baptized 
it was common to administer the ordinance in a riv¬ 
er—the river Jordan. Mark i. 5. 9, 10. Matthew iii. 
6 to 13. But when individuals or households, or even 
considerable numbers were to be baptized, it w as not 
unfrequently done in a more private way. The jailor 
and his house, and Cornelius and his friends, for* in¬ 
stance. But can it be reasonably supposed, that 
there could be any want of water, w hen it is so w ell 
known that baths in houses and gardens were so com¬ 
mon in that country. Is it to he supposed there was 
no reservoir of w ater in the prison yard, or garden, 
or house, of the prison-keeper of Philippi, near to 
which ran a ri\er—Acts xvi. 13,—or in the house of a 
Roman officer, Cornelius. It cannot be proved there 
was not: and the fact of baptizing in such places is, 
at least, a strong presumptive proof that there was; 
seeing so many cases are on record that evidently 
shew the use. of much water. Tn Ihe case of Lydia, 
we learn that she heard the word of grace, and was 


Believers Baptism. 


97 


converted to God by a river side , and then and there 
she and her household were baptized. Acts xvi. 13,14, 
15. And when three thousand were to be baptized, 
there surely could be no difficulty to immerse 
for want of water. There was the pool of Siloam, a 
place of common resort, in which the infirm washed. 
There was also the pool of Bethesda, a place of con¬ 
siderable magnitude. It is said to have had five 
porches, in which lay a great multitude of impotent 
folk. Now, without naming any more, these would 
be sufficient; though doubtless there were many prH> 
vate pools and baths, and perhaps public ones also. 
There must have been abundance of water used about 
the temple for all their divers washings; but then, 
some Paedobaptists have tried to persuade their hear¬ 
ers, that the prejudices of the Jews were so strong, 
that they would not suffer the apostles to use their 
sacred waters, (as they are pleased to call them.) 
How exceeding weak and futile are such objections! 
They are indeed a reflection, both on the understand¬ 
ing and integrity of the objectors; for, let it be ob¬ 
served first, that the three thousand baptized were 
Jews, or mostly such, and had a common right to all 
their public waters; and further, such was the power 
of God displayed, that fear fell upon all the people, even 
great fear upon every soul—Acts ii. 43.—and many 
wonders and signs were done by the apostles. It 
was a day of wonder, and it was not (on such occa¬ 
sions) for a few vicious priests and bigotted Phari¬ 
sees to offer any opposition: but especially I would 
have it obseved, that these very apostles who are sup¬ 
posed by our opponents to be refused the use of pub¬ 
lic pools, are permitted to make frequent use of the 
public temple, and not only like their Master, reprove 
and rebuke the scribes, lawyers and Pharisees, in 
their own temple, but frequently to preach the words 
of life and salvation to the people, without asking 
permission of a *y. Now surely, if the Jews would 
have guarded their pools from such a use, they w ould 
I 



9.8 


Believers Baptism, 


much more have guarded their temple, which they 
held so sacred. These kind of arguments brought 
forward against the apostolic practice of immersion, 
can have no lasting effect on any but the unwary, the 
indolent, and the weak. 

But it is further objected, that on this occasion the 
number was so considerable that they could not have 
had time to immerse them. When men adduce such 
weak arguments, it proves they have no better. Does 
it not take Psedobaptists as long to sprinkle, as it does 
Baptists to immerse? Doubtless it does; hut perhaps it 
will be said, that the apostles, on the plan of the Pse¬ 
dobaptists, could have marshalled them in rows and 
have sprinkled them from a bowl of water by dozens 
or hundreds, as the priests under the law sprinkled 
the people with a bunch of hysop, or as popish priests 
sprinkle the people with holy water; but so did not 
the apostles of the lamb, they did every thing “de¬ 
cently and in order.” 

But to attend a little further to the objection on 
the score of time. Was there not time for immersion? 
yes, assuredly, the time is noted to be the third hour, 
(that is nine o’clock.) Now it appears that the apos¬ 
tles had been long speaking before this hour, in about 
fourteen different languages, the report of it had 
spread through Jerusalem, the people had gathered 
together and were confounded; no doubt they had 
been speaking from the commencement of day.— 
“When the day of pentecost was fully come.” Acts ii. 
1. the probability therefore is, that after this effect 
from Peter’s ministry, that he did not speak 
long, say one hour, and there is no appearance 
of any other of the apostles speaking after this, so 
that this would close the public preaching at ten 
o’clock. The number of the apostles was twelve, by 
which divide three, thousand, and it gives two hun¬ 
dred and fifty to each apostle: Now I would ask how 
long need a man be baptizing his brother where oc¬ 
casion required despatch? Can it not be done, and is 




Believers Baptism. 


99 


it not often done with perfect decency and decorum 
in one minute? Doubtless it can and is. This would 
not take quite four hours and a quarter. Now allow 
three quarters of an hour to go to convenient places 
after public speaking closed—this would only bring 
it to three o’clock. There would then he three hours 
of the Jewish day remaining, which was surely more 
than enough to receive this highly favored army into 
the fellowship of the church. It will be observed, that 
1 have taken no notice of the seventy disciples, whom 
the Lord sent forth to preach; and if they were pre¬ 
sent and assisted on this occasion, which is more than 
probable, it w ould, in that case, reduce the number to 
he baptized by each administrator, to about thirty- 
six. 

Thus much for these kind of objections against be¬ 
lievers baptism by immersion. I am well aware that 
truth does not require either geographical criticism 
or arithmetical calculations; hut when the opposers 
of a scriptural practice bring forward (for the want of 
something better,) their profound calculations to per¬ 
plex us, it becomes necessary to rebut them, because 
the unwary, the indolent, and the weak, are beguiled. 

Before I dismiss this interesting piece of New Tes¬ 
tament history, namely, the conversion and baptism of 
three thousand souls, and their addition to the church 
of Christ, I must be permitted to ask our opponents 
this question: If children were baptized in the apos¬ 
tles days, how came it to pass, that of all this mighty 
number that were baptized in the name of Jesus 
Christ, not one of them appears to have brought a 
single infant for baptism? The reverse indeed appears 
clear and decisive, from the passage connected with 
the account of their baptism—Acts ii. 42.—“They 
(that is, those who were baptized) continued stedfast- 
ly in the apostles doctrine, and fellowship, and in 
breaking of bread, and in prayer.” These are acts 
that can only be performed, by living and believing 
members of Christ and bis church. Infants cannot; 


Believers Baptism. 


100 

perform them. There can be then no infants in this ! 
goodly and highly favored company. How vain then 
for Psedobaptists to talk of their infant members, 
made so (say they) by baptism, when they know they 
are utterly incapable of the fore-named acts. Infants 
can know nothing of “the apostles doctrine,” much 
less can they shew “stedfastness in it.” They can¬ 
not know any thing of “fellowship with the saints.” 
They (that is infants) are not permitted to “break 
bread” in Christ’s name; and if they were, they could 
not “discern the Lord’s body,” and do it in a believ¬ 
ing remembrance of him, nor are they capable, as in¬ 
fants, of “continuing in prayer,” or of once offering 
the prayer of faith. 

Among all the objections brought against immer¬ 
sion and in favor of sprinkling, it is not usual to find 
any brought from the meaning of the word “baptize,” 
or any of its derivatives, as baptism, baptizing, bap¬ 
tist, &c. That ground has been generally ceded to the 
Baptists by men of the first information. That is, 
they have admitted what none can with truth deny, 
that the primary meaning of the Greek word rern'ered 
baptize, is to dip, a3 a dyer dips his cloth to tinge it , 
to plunge, so as to immerse, to overwhelm whatever, 
or whoever is baptized. Such candid men on the Pse¬ 
dobaptists side, have only contended that its secondary 
meaning is to wash; and that to dtp or immerse , is 
only in order to wash, and as washing can be done 
without immersion, it is not expedient so to do. But 
while Psedobaptists have in general, very many of 
them, made such concessions, some few have ventur¬ 
ed in their zeal to affirm that the word very rarely, 
if ever, is used to express immersion. This certainly 
is bold, and not calculated to impress a very high opin ¬ 
ion of their candor or correctness; for if men of learn¬ 
ing. Baptists and Pse4obaptists, lexicographers and 
critics, are capable of knowing the meaning of the 
word, and worthy of being credited, it is not true; 
and unfortunately for such champions of error, they 



101 


Believers Baptism. 

do not, nor cannot produce a single passage, in which 
the word was used to express the act of sprinkling; 
not one!—and in those passages where it is rendered 
wash , it is evidently a result flowing from immersion. 
They know well that the Jews, when they went to eat, 
and when they had, or supposed they had, contracted 
any uncleanness, they plunged , or immersed their 
hands in water. They did not sprinkle a few drops 
on them, or even pour a small quantity on them out 
of a vessel—no; they plunged them in the vessel: and 
those who are well acquainted with the Rabinical 
writings say, that in proportion to the degree of pol¬ 
lution they had contracted, so they dippped their 
hands, more or less deep, to the wrist, or to the el¬ 
bow, or still deeper; thus it appears, that in order to 
wash they plunged, and not sprinkled. What argu¬ 
ment then does this practice (called washing) furnish 
against the legitimate meaning of the word, or the 
scriptural practice of immersion, still maintained by 
the Baptists, and for more than thirteen centuries 
practised by all Christendom, as it yet is by the 
Greek church. The learned Dr. Whitby informs 
us, that “Immersion was religiously observed by all 
Christians for thirteen centuries, and was approved 
by the church of England,” of which he was a cler¬ 
gyman; and even Dr. Wall, in his history of infant 
baptism, declares “that all the countries in the world 
which never regarded the usurped authority of the 
Pope, still use dipping in a font. 5 ’ Thus have two 
eminent Psedobaptists admitted, that immersion is 
the scriptural and long practised mode, till the Pope’s 
influence, seconded by the assembly of divines (as 
they are called) at Westminster, almost blotted it out 
of use, except as retained and practised by a despi¬ 
sed people, who hold it their duty and their honor 
“to keep the ordinances of the Lord, as they were 
delivered unto them.” 

1 would now solemnly ask Psedobaptists of every 
name this interesting question: “fFas Jesus Christ’s 

12 


102 


Believers Baptism . 


baptism sprinkling , or immersion?” that baptism aboui 
which he thus speaks, “1 have a baptism to be bap¬ 
tized with, and how am I straitened until it he ac¬ 
complished.” I think no friend of Christ’s will say 
that his sufferings were mere drops or gentle pour¬ 
ings; no, sirs, “his baptism (as Mr. Hart says) was 
a baptism deep indeed, o’er hands, and feet, and face, 
and head.”—He was immersed, overwhelmed, not 
sprinkled with, but plunged into, a sea of suffering, 
so as to make him cry “all thy billows and thy 
waves are gone over me.” He endured all that the 
floods of ungodly men could inflict in their hour!— 
He bore all that the old dragon Satan, (who poured a 
flood out against the church) could afflict him with 
in his hour, the power of darkness! and what was 
far more dreadful, he bore the floods of divine dis¬ 
pleasure when “the pains of hell got hold upon him,” 
when in the bitterness of his soul he exclaimed, “Let 
not the pit shut her mouth upon me!” Here surely, 
baptism means nothing less than to be plunged into 
unutterable sufferings, overwhelming anguish and 
misery.—“Of his sufferings so intense, angels have 
no perfect sense; ’tis to God, and God alone, that 
their weight is fully known.” Thus much for the 
baptism of suffering, which it appears was not sprink¬ 
ling but immersion. 

I will now draw the attention of my readers to the 
baptism of the spirit, and here we shall find nothing 
about sprinkling, but before I proceed permit me to 
observe, that the baptism of the Holy Ghost, is not 
his converting and regenerating influence, but his 
miraculous presence and operation, such as no man 
is now the partaker of. When men therefore now , 
talk of being baptized with the Holy Ghost, they know 
not what they say, nor whereof they affirm; and I 
wish this fact to be attentively observed and remem¬ 
bered, for many mistakes may arise out of this mis¬ 
take. But to come to the proof, let the instances on 
record where men appear to be baptized with the 


Believers Baptism. 103 

Holy Ghost, be carefully considered, and it will evi¬ 
dently appear, that it was not at, or to effect their 
conversion, but after their conversion, and miracu¬ 
lous influence immediately manifested itself. “They 
spake with tongues,” Ac. Acts x. 46. That Cornelius 
was a converted man (though but ill informed) needs 
no better proof than this, that “he feared God and 
wrought righteousness;” and lie, on the preaching of 
Peter was baptized with the Holy Ghost, “he fell on 
all that heard the word, and they spake with tongues 
and magnified God.” Acts x. 46. 

The Corinthian disciples also, mentioned Acts xix. 
1 to 6, were converted, were believers, and were 
baptized, and then they received the Holy Ghost; they 
were enveloped and filled with his miraculous pre¬ 
sense and influence, “and they spake with tongues, 
and prophesied.” 

But the most striking instance is in the apostles 
themselves. In Acts i. 5. we have this promise of 
Christ to them.—“Ye shall be baptized with the Ho¬ 
ly Ghost not many days hence.” When was this 
promise accomplished? doubtless on the day of Pen¬ 
tecost, when they were all with one accord in one 
place. Acts ii. 1, 2, 3, 4. when “a rushing mighty 
wind filled all the house where they were sitting,” and 
then this rushing mighty wind assumed, or was suc¬ 
ceeded by the appearance of “cloven tongues, as of 
fire, which sat (or rested) on each of them, and they 
were all filled with the Holy Ghost.” We are surely 
to understand by this rushing mighty wind the mi¬ 
raculous presence and operation of the Spirit of God, 
with which according to the promise-—Acts i. 5.— 
they were baptized; not sprinkled, but immersed, en¬ 
veloped, for observe, it “ ‘filled them, and Jilted all the 
house , where thev were sitting;” consequently im¬ 
mersed them—this Peter calls the pouring out of the 
Spirit, promised in Joel’s prophesy. Acts ii. 17, 18. 
!Not a sparing sprinkling, but a copious effusion; such 
a pouring out as did completely baptize the subjects. 


104 


Believers Baptism. 


This was indeed “pouring water upon tlie thirsty* 
even floods upon the dry ground”'—not drops, observe, 
but floods. These and similar instances ot the mi¬ 
raculous presence and operation of the Holy Ghost, 
appear to be what is meant by the baptism of the 
Spirit, and such instances were common in the apos¬ 
tolic age, but are now totally unknown. 

Let not Christians then talk at random of being 
baptized with the Spirit; but content themselves if 
they possess evidence, that they are “born again of 
the Spirit, regenerated by the Spirit, taught by the 
Spirit, and led by the Spirit,” for such are “heirs of 
promise and children of God—such are Christ’s, and 
their life is hid with Christ in God; and when Christ, 
who is their life, shall appear, they also shall appear 
with him in glory, and so shall they ever be with the 
Lord.” So says the Spirit of truth, and on this foun¬ 
dation the apostles advice is, “Comfort one another 
with these words.” Let not the opponents of believ- ; 
ers baptism by immersion, the advocates of infant 
sprinkling, think to find any analogy (that will help 
them out) between the Spirit’s baptism, and the 
sprinkling a few, very few drops of water on the face 
of.a child, for it has been clearly shewn, that to be 
baptized with the Spirit, is to be a partaker of a 
plenitude of his miraculous presence and influence. 

Once more:—It is sometimes made a matter of 
triumph by Piedobaptists, that there is mention made 
by Paul—l Cor. x. 1, 2.—of a baptism, in which they 
suppose it evident that children were baptized, 
though this by no means appears from the passage; ‘ 
for although there was women and children, and a 
large mixed multitude that followed the camp of Is¬ 
rael, yet no mention is made of either the one or the 
other. Paul only says, that “all our fathers were 
under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and 
were all baptized unto Moses, in the sea, and in the 
cloud.” It seems an unwarrantable stretch of words, 
to include women and children, male and female, and 




Believers Baptism. 10u 

a mixed multitude, under the appellation of “our fa¬ 
thers.” It seems far more natural and congenial to 
truth, to suppose that the words include only the 
grown up men of Israel, (or perhaps only the heads 
of houses) who were in truth the fathers of the Jew¬ 
ish nation. But whoever they were, we are inform¬ 
ed, that “with many of them God was not well pleas¬ 
ed,” for “he overthrew them in the wilderness.” 
Even many of those who were baptized, appear to 
be such as “coveted after evil things, were idolaters, 
and committed fornication, and fell in one day three 
and twenty thousand.” 1 Cor. x. 5, 6, 7, 8. Such 
characters could not be the children of the men of 
Israel. They were not capable of such crimes, nor 
were they overthrown in the wilderness, but were 
preserved, and finally brought into the goodly land 
promised to their fathers, who “entered not in be¬ 
cause of unbelief.” But if it were necessary to un¬ 
derstand the expression “all our fathers ,” as includ¬ 
ing the children, yet what (I ask) would be gained 
to the cause of infant sprinkling? Verily nothing. 
For under the gospel we have nothing national, nor 
have we any thing federative; but all is personal, 
while under the law there was much of both—mere 
descent conferred on the children the privilege per¬ 
taining to the parent. 

Further: as to the mode practised by Psedobaptists, 
there appears nothing in the circumstances here re¬ 
corded, to favor in the least the practice of sprinkling; 
for they are said to be baptized “in the cloud and in 
the sea',” not from the sea or cloud, as though a small 
spray from the sea, or a few drops of rain from the 
cloud, had fallen on them—no, not so—but words are 
used which evidently denote immersion—Cor. x. 2. 
“They were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and 
in the sea.” That is, I conceive, they were all buri¬ 
ed, as it were, in the channel of the sea; and under 
the covering of a circumambient cloud; buried to all 
expectation from and connexion with Egypt, or any 


106 


Believers Baptism . 


of its good things, (all of which were emblematic ol 
this evil world and a carnal state,) and after being 
so buried, they experienced a figurative resurrection; 
they rose from out of the sea, and from under the cloud, 
to Moses. 'That is, subject to his government as king 
in Jeshurun, and God’s vicegerent, at least, they were 
professedly subject. And although I did not think 
myself bound to answer thus, the objection raised 
from this occurrence, inasmuch as it was no ordi¬ 
nance, or religious institution of any dispensation, 
hut an extraordinary occurrence, from which l think 
no argument ought to be brought, to determine either 
the subject, or mode of an ordinance, that had no ex¬ 
istence until the Christian era, yet nevertheless, as . 
our opponents are wont to make a handle of it, 

I have considered it, and combated their argu¬ 
ments, and 1 verily believe, that it would puzzle the 
ingenuity of the most acute, to make these circum¬ 
stances look like any thing short of immersion. 

It appears to be extremely ridiculous to contend, 
as our opponents do, that the mere application of wa¬ 
ter to the subject, constitutes the essence of baptism; 
every thing that baptism is made (in scripture) to 
represent, forbids such an absurd idea, such as a bu¬ 
rial, and resurrection in particular. Who among all 
the analogical reasoners has ingenuity enough, to 
trace any likeness, between the sprinkling of a few 
drops of water on the face of an infant, and the buri¬ 
al and resurrection of a human body. I expect no 
one will undertake so impracticabfe a task; and fur¬ 
ther 1 would ask, when afflictions and intense suffer¬ 
ings are compared to, and called a baptism? Is water 
in any small quantity alluded to, or an overwhelming 
quantity? Surely a small quantity is always salutary, 
and desirable, and water can never be made the em¬ 
blem of suffering and death, except when a consider¬ 
able quantity is alluded to, not drops , to sprinkle; hut 
floods, billows , waves , to immerse , to overwhelm , then 
indeed, and only then, it is a very apt emblem of 
suffering. 


107 


Believers Baptism . 

Was Christ’s sufferings (which I have already treat- 
ed on) the mere application of suffering*, just touching 
him as it were? or were they overwhelming suffer, 
ings? doubtless they were of the latter character; but 
be it remembered, Christ’s sufferings are called a 
baptism; to baptize then, is to immerse , and not to 
sprinkle, and to be a fit subject for baptism, is to be a 
partaker of repentance towards God, and faith in our 
Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory. Amen. 

Thus truth must prevail, 

And error must fail, 

If scripture’s allow’d to decide; 

Though foes may contend, 

Still Jesus our friend, 

Defenders of truth, will provide. 

They blow the ram’s horn, 

Which enemies scorn, 

But Jerico’s walls will fall down. 

The gospel they preach, 

With plainness of speech, 

And Jesus their efforts will own. 

To further his praise, 

In these gospel days, 

And sinners from darkness to turn. 

From darkness to light, 

By his Spirit’s might, 

Which makes their cold bosoms to burn. 

With love to his will, 

They long to fulfil, 

Whate’er is enjoin’d or advis’d. 

Themselves they deny, 

With truth they comply, 

And then in his name are baptiz’d. 


108 


Believers Baptism. 

“One faith” they possess, 

“One Lord” they confess, 

By immersion “one baptism” own: 
One gospel they love, 

One law they approve, 

And Lord of ail gladly crown. 


THE PLAGUE OF THE HEART. 


The heart knoweth his own bitterness. —Prov. xiv. 10. 

My present theme, with grief and shame I sing, 

The mournful truth to tell, yet dare not hide. 

That man is guilty, and throughout defil’d, 

I feel too sad a proof, alas! within. 

Through all my powers a vile contagion runs, 

That taints each thought, and every action spoils, 

My head is wholly sick, my heart is feint, 

No part in me is sound—unclean I cry, 

And view with shame my leprous spots deep stain’d. 
With a disease that loathsome is, my loins 
Are fill’d, and in the night my sore doth run, 

Nor doth it cease by day, oozing corruption out. 

Thus from my reins instruction I receive, 

And learn that in my flesh there dwells no good, 

The fountain’s foul! the streams are all impure! 

Through grace I hate, but cannot cease from sin, 
Myself I loathe, and from myself would fly, 

But can’t escape, and being burden’d groan, 

And for deliv’rance sigh.—With tears I wet 
My sleepless couch; but still, alas! I’m bound, 

Or moral death is bound to me; and hope 
Of victory’s weak:—“O wretched man,” 1 cry, 

And from my wounded aching heart, bursts forth, 

In mournful accents deep, “Who shall deliver mer” 

K 





110 


Then look with longing eyes, and watch and wait 
For days, and weeks, and months, and years, almost 
In vain, for no complete deliverance comes. 

(And you, my reader, if yourself you know, 

To what I here have wrote, must needs subscribe.) 

*Tis true, the snare is often broke (through grace,) 
And I escape the net; but soon, alas! 

Another web the artful fowler weaves, 

My heedless feet to catch, and wound my soul, 

Me piercing through, with sorrows deep infixt. 

“To will,” what to my Lord well pleasing is, 

“I present find;” but to perforin the thing 
That’s truly good, th’ pow’r I cannot find, 

Except to will and do he kindly works. 

(Say, tried believer, is’t not thus with you?) 

I would indeed do good, and hate the ill I do, 

But when that good to do I strive, I find 
Sin present there, and all my efforts fail. 

The thing I would not, I too often do, 

And what I would, too often leave undone, 

And to the law consent, that “it is good.” 

O may I add, without offence to God, 

Or to the godly, whom I truly love, 

«’T is no morel” that do the thing I hate, 

But sin that in me dwells, and wars against 
The grace of God, implanted in the soul. 

I with the inward man, in God’s good law 
Delight, and with my mind that law I serve; 

But in my members feel the law of sin, 

And with my fiesh too oft that law I serve, 

Against my will, and to my constant grief 


Ill 


With broken heart, and self abhorrence too, 

I feel the pest, the plague of my own heart, 

And, “wretched man,” again I cry, and ask 
Who shall deliv’rance bring complete , and when , 

From this base load, so strongly bound to me? 

My foe so often wounds, and casts me down, 

In this continued war with flesh and blood, 

And principalities, and powers base, 

E’en those who rule the darkness of this world, 

And in the sons of disobedience work; 

That "tis with trembling hope and feeble faith, 

I say, “thank God through Christ ,” my gracious Lord. 

I by the archers have been hurt—At me 
They shot~and in a vital part they pierced, 

With poison’d shafts, the victim of their rage; 

And in the place of dragons I’ve been broke, 

And o’er me oft the exulting foe hath stood, 

And cried “ he’s down , and he shall rise no more .” 

(And this, the lot of many is I know. 

But, O, amazing!—Love and pow’r divine, 

Oft from the dunghillof corruption foul, 

And dust of self abasement, where I laid, 

My beggar’d, begging soul hath lifted up. 

To him therefore, the friend of friendless man, 

Who ine remember’d in my low estate, 

My pray’r I will direct, and still look up: 

Jn safety set my soul , shall be my plea, 

From him who at me puffs, and pleads my cause 
’Gainst every foe, that ’gainst me may arise, 

Of earth or hell, within me or without. 

And will not God a prisoner’s groans attend, 

Who night and day pours out his soul in tearsr 


112 


He will! (though long his hand forbear) avenge- 
The needy soul, who for salvation sighs! 

Yea, though he oft may fall, he still shall rise, 

And though in darkness he may sit, the Lord 
Shall be his light, his sun and shield. 

Then O my weary soul, with every ill beset, 

Be not cast down, though weak and friendless too, 
Hope thou in God, he thy salvation is, 

And thou shalt live (his word of grace is past.) 
Through endless days, his saving grace to praise! 

And now, my reader, whomsoe’er thou art, 

A home-bred ploughman, or a school-bred priest, 

A man of sober sense, or pedant proud, 

An humble Mary, or censorious prude, 

Whate’eryou are (my reader) rich or poor, 

Or young or old, or bound by men, or free, 

Or rude, or polish’d, or sedate, or gay, 

It matters not in this, one thing is clear, 

No human being e’er knew God or truth. 

That did not know himself a sinner vile, 

Deprav’d throughout, from head to foot defil’d, 

And from the heart confess’d —Behold Fm vile.” 

I know full well, the wise, in self conceit, 

And pure in their own eyes, will censure me, 

And blindly judge my language far too strong, 

And say stand by, at humble distance keep. 

But those whom God hath taught to know themselves, 
Judge more correct—They feel within much more 
Than I’ve advanced, and know the likeness just. 

Be not discourag’d, friend, "thy heart's prepared” 
To thy blest Lord, salvation to ascribe, 

And that alone's the blissful song of heaven—« 


113 


Sung by the happy millions there, who lay 
Themselves and crowns, low at their Saviours feet. 


While thus the believer is tried, 

With the law of corruption within, 

Foes press him on every side, 

Against his dear Saviour to sin. 

He thus his heart’s bitterness knows, 

As no one that’s dead ever can, 

But faith in the furnace best grows, 

From that of a babe to a man. 

Yet, though he in bitterness mourn, 

O’er the plague of his own depraved heart, 
lie has joys (that infidels scorn, 

In which they, alas, have no part,) 

Which spring from the fountain of love , 

And flow through a channel of blood — 
E’en his who came down from above, 

Whom once he so basely withstood— 

Who for him a righteousness wrought, 

And died his lost soul to redeem, 

(Who, with a rich price being bought, 

Th’good ways of his Lord doth esteem;) 
Who vanquish’d and spoil’d his grand foe. 

And o’er him triumph’d on the cross— 
Then sunk to the sepulchre low, 

And rose to declare who he was, 

E’en Jesus—God’s coequal Son, 

With power to quicken and save, 

Those for whom he victory won, 

O’er Satan, and Death, and the Gravel 


K £ 


114 


JOB’S AFFLICTIONS, 

AND THE END OF THE LORD. 


Great was the man I sing, for wealth renown’d. 
But more for patience, piety and faith, 

And heav’nly wisdom in an age so dark. 

This man, so great, great sorrows did endure, 
Though God he fear’d, and ev’ry evil shunn’d—- 
The most upright of men—God being judge. 

But, oh! my soul, stand still and low adore, 

AVhat human reason cannot comprehend. 

Satan, the arrant foe of God and man, 

By God allow’d to plague the man he lov’d,— 

To slay his servants and destroy his wealth— 
Oxen and asses—rude Sabeans stole, 

And slew their faithful keepers with the sword. 

By fire mysterious, kindled by the foe, 

The sheep and watchful shepherds all were burnt, 
But one, who ’scap’d to tell the doleful news. 

The cruel Chaldeans next, his camels steal, 

Their keepers kill, and bear their plunder olf, 

And only one escapes, the man of God to tell. 

But heav’er tidings yet astound his ear!— 

The dread tornado’s rais’d!—the whirlwind fierce, 
Which in its forceful, whirling motion, smote 
The house of mirth, the dwelling of his sons, 

And threw the fabric down—crushing to death, 
Beneath the ruin’d pile, th* unhappy guests, 
Servants and sons, in one promiscuous heap! 

Heart rending ills!—none but a parent’s heart 
Can truly feel, what Job must then have felt. 

Oh! how a father’s heart must yearn, to see 



115 


The mangled bodies of his seven sons, 

Cut oft while teasting high, (perhaps in sin!) 

But old my soul, God’s special grace admire, 

In all this weight of woe Job sinned not, 

Nor, fool like, with injustice charg’d his God. 

But his integrity held fast, and Satan foil’d, 

Altho’ his wife, (the worst of snares when bad,) 
Reproach’d and tempted him to curse his God and die. 
And Satan charg’d with mercenary views, 

And sought permission to afflict the man , 

And pledg’d himself he’d curse his God to’s face! 

He’s in thy hands, the Sov’reign Ruler said, 

But, at thy peril, touch his precious life. 

Forth went the toe of man, with malice fraught, 

And smote the saint of God with burning biles— 
Painful (in the extreme) to be endured, 

And loathsome to himself and all his house; 

Nor maids, or men, his voice obey’d when called. 

In ashes vile the afflicted man sat down, 

And with a potsherd scraped his fester’d skin, 

To ease the anguish of the fi’ry pest. 

For seven long days in silence deep he sat, 

And by him sat, his three professed friends, 

Then in stupendous grief, his natal day he cursed. 

Thus Job, the good and upright man of Uz, 

Was, by permission of his gracious God, 

Through Satan’s agency, severely tried. 

Ilis friends, mistaken, him revil’d and scorn’d, 

(A work which friends at ease, can well perform,) 

If friends they might be call’d, who shook their heads 
At one so sore beset with grief intense, 

And spoke not what was right of him, or God. 


God's sovereign acts they little understood, 

And misconstrued his dealings with their friend; 
Presuming, sorrows so exceeding great, 

Bespoke foul crimes as great, in secret done. 

m 

Beneath such gross mistakes they labour’d hard 
To prove the saint a hypocrite disguis’d, 

And bitter words in scorn upon him heap'd. 

But God his servant knew, (and he knew God) 
And to his upright, patient dealings bore 
A good report, which slander ne’er could shake, 
And he in turn, spake noble things of God. 

God lov’d the man, therefore the man lov’d God* 
(As in his Son he had himself reveal’d,) 

And each through love in commendation spake. 
Whate’er ofgood the man possess’d, ’twas God 
That good bestow’d, and own’d the work was his. 
God in himseif is good, supremely good, 

And from him emanates, through Christ the Lord 
All earthly and eternal good to men. 

How great that goodness is no tongue can telL 
Or what his beauty is no heart conceive, 

For God, the great I AVI, the three in one. 
Eternal and unchangeably the same, 

The just and holy Lord, and Saviour of 
The lost, is dimly seen e’en in his word, 

His radiance is so bright, his glory so immense, 
And we by nature blind, by grace in part, 

And only part, and that but small, we know. 

But if like Job. our record is on high, 

We soon shall know, e’en as we now are known. 
Mistaken friends may scorn and say stand by, 
You’re so impure I fear you’ll me disgrace; 

But such had need beware, lest self and pride, 
The basis of such conduct should be found! 


nr 

To him who is distress'd kind pity should be shewn* 
Our words should grief assuage, and strength convey, 

! And wine and oil into the spirit pour 
Of the contrite, by sin or sorrow ’prest. 
j So did not Job’s three friends, their words were like 
Drawn swords, and on his troubled spirit wrought, 
Like vinegar on nitre, freely pour’d. 

But he, (though much appear’d amiss ’tistrue) 

; Knew well by faith his gr^t Redeemer liv’d, 

(Who from all evil would his soul redeem,) 

! And that on earth his God in flesh he’d see, 

Though worms should skin and flesh consume: 

His Lord reprov’d, and purg’d him from his sins, 
Whom now he saw in purity supreme, 

: Behold I’m vile, he said, and stopt his mouth. 

| And then (0 wondrous grace!) it pleas’d the Lord, 
His long and sore captivity to turn, 

When for his three olfending friends he pray’d, 
j Who spake not what was right, as Job had done, 
Whom now the God of wisdom own’d, and said* 

My servant Job, for you I will accept. 

His horn was once defil’d in dust, but now, 
i Above his foes his head is lifted up; 

Princes again shall listen to his speech, 
j And silence keep, while he the truth unfolds, 

I Nobles, and men of every grade give ear, 
j The youth with modesty retire, while men 
j Of years stand up, and all due deference pay. 

! Th’ accusers now turn supplicants and pray 
Their slander’d friend to act for them as PriestJ 
The cruel tongue of defamation’s mute, 

And Job, the friend of God, to honor rais’d. 

Then God restor’d more than his foes had stole, 

With seven stout sons, and lovely daughters three, 
Th’unrival’d beauties of the land of Uz, 




This rich man now, had many friends, who scorn’d 
In deep adversity, his soul to know: 

Such friends as these are numerous and cheap, 

Who slander when they ought to sympathize; 

My soul into their secret never come, 

Nor be my honor with them ever join’d. 

Such are the fickle ways of men; but God, 

Howe’er he may chastise, andjnde his face, 

Is of one mind, and doth at times love, 

And to his own, sticks closer than»a brother doth. 

Then trust not thy own heart, thou feeble saint, 
Nor yet thy fellow man, whose help is vain, 

But trust with all thy heart, in Job’s Almighty friend 
Who ne’er forsook his servant in distress. 

Whose great affliction we have seen with pain, 

And view’d with pleasure God’s most gracious end . 
Then let his holy Name be magnified, 

By all on earth, and all the glorified. 


THE HEIRS OF LIFE. 

If children , then heirs , <^c.—Rom. viii. 17. 

The heirs of life are now my chosen theme, 

0 may I trace their lineaments correct, 

As guided by a monitor divine, 

Nor aught distort, nor aught through fear conceal, 
But all their comely parts display to view, 

And their uncomely ones with grief confess. 

But e’er l do proceed I fain would ask, 

Dost thou, in truth, my reader, long to know, 

If thou an heir of life art made? Then read, 



119 


With pray ’r, wha tfor thy go,,,! I here present 

In this, my feeble, unembellish’d son<>\ 

b 

| AnJ be u known to thee, truth being judge, 

The heirs of life are those whom God ordain’d, 

To life eternal e’er the world be<;an. 

Gave to his Son, and gave them life in him— 

; Those whom the Son receiv’d, to union with 
Himself, the living and Waiving head. 

| ‘W horn to redeem , of woman he was made, 

And liv’d obedient, and obedient died, 

The precept thus fulfilling, and the curse 
In ev ry form endured, as God’s pure Lamb— 

I From the beginning slain, in purpose and in type, 
For whom the holy Jesus sin was made, 

(Though hard to be believ’d) sin to atone— 

For whom the blest Redeemer on the cross, 

The prince of hell, (who had the pow’r of death) 

In single combat fought, and overthrew. 

For these (with him joint heirs) the Saviour rose , 
And in the majesty of God went up, 
j The grand designs of love to carry on, 

And bring th’ heirs home unto their Father, God, 
That with their elder Brother they might dwell. 

But some, perhaps, may say—It may be so— 

The heirs of life maybe the ones you draw— 
j For whom such great and glorious things were done, 
, And still are doing—But still, the record 
j None e’er saw. If it exists, ’tis hidden deep 
From mortal eyes—for secret things to God belong. 

That is a point I readily concede. 

I But must we hence infer that tilings so deep, 




120 


And only known to God, are ne’er reveal’d? 

(For if reveal’d, they then belong to us.) 

God doubtless doth make known what eye ne’er saw, 
What ear hath never heard, nor heart conceiv’d. 

From wise and prudent men, who scorn to learn 
Of him who lowly was, God much conceals; 

But to his own the secrets of his heart unfolds, 

And shews their souls the covenant of his love. 

’Tistrue, the sacred page of holy writ 
Both never name the men whom God ordain’d 
Heirs of endless life, and gave his equal Son; 

And whom the Son in mercy did accept— 

For whom he liv’d—and died—and rose again— 

And for whom still as intercessor lives. 

Yet, is a work of grace so fair impress'd, 

Upon the souls of men, by Gotj, that he 
Who runs may read, (if he has eyes to see,) 

Upon the forehead writ, of those renew’d, 

These are the heirs of life—the heirs of God! 

The image and the superscription’s plain. 

Has God ordain’d to life some certain men, 

The fruit of everlasting love in Christ? 

With pow’r divine, (which cannot be o’ercome) 

And loving kindness, them he therefore draws— 

Out of his righteous law, their souls are taught, 

And sore chastis’d for sin, now seen and felt: 

Then having heard, and of the Father learn’d 
That they are vile, and he is just and good, 

They come to Christ his Son, as by the Spirit led; 
For ’tis the Spirit's wort, men to convince of sin, 
And blinded souls to lead in ways unknown. 


121 


To make gross darkness light, that sinners lost 
May know themselves, and Christ the rock embrace, 
And shelter find in him from wrath to come, 

And Jesus follow in that hallow’d way, 

Which he as Lord in his own house prescrib’d. 

Such are the heirs of life .—By God belov’d, 

By the great Son redeem’d from endless woe, 

And by the Spirit call’d and born again; 

Who by his gracious aid, can Abba, Father, say, 
And live a life the carnal cannot live, 

A life of faith unleign’d, and humble pray’r, 

That sin may be subdu’d and self deny’d, 

And Christ be honour’d as their rightful Lord, 
Whom though they have not seen, they dearly love, 
And feel him precious in their heart’s esteem, 

And trust his promise to hold on their way, 

(Though Satan, world, and flesh combine to tempt, 
Corruptions rise, and for the mast’ry strive, 

And faith is weak, and hope almost expires; 

But faith can’t die, nor can their hope be sham’d, 
For Christ’s their author, object, and their end.) 

Such love his follow’rs too, as fellow heirs of 
The grace of life, and brethren in the faith, 

The faith of God’s elect, more precious far 
Than gold, or aught on earth that can be nam’d. 

These are the heirs of life, and ne’er can die, 

So spoke the Son of God: “The man that lives 
And in me doth believe, shall never die.” 

(O gracious words from Jesus’ faithful lips,) 
Conjointly heirs they are, with Christ their Lord, 

K 


122 


In whom their life is hid and safely kept; 

And when he comes they with him shall be seen! 

These blessed truths, the theme of this rude song, 

In characters of gold, are worthy to be writ, 

For the high honors of a triune God, 

And safety of believing souls, are there 
Deeply involv’d, and gloriously display’d, 

And court the grateful wonder of mankind. 

Such know and lore, the truths that made them free, 
And wisdom’s ways are pleasantness to them, 

Who love the saints, and with them cast their lot. 

With their hearts plague, such well acquainted are, 
And loathe themselves in dust, and sin abhor, 

Yet sin bemoan’d remains, and struggles hard to rule, 
But grace shall reign, the God of grace hath said. 

Those therefore who are weak, may say they’re strong. 
Strong in their Lord, and in his pow’rful might, 

And strong in grace—the grace that is in Christ , 

And through rich grace, shall more than conq’rers be! 

Whoe’er thou art that reads, I thee entreat, 

With deep attention, and with pray’r too, 

These outlines well to weigh .—Jirt thou the man , 

Hast thou by God been taught, to know thyself? 

And do’stthou trust in him, who died to save? 

Do’st thou him love, his people and his ways, 

(Though he and his are both despis’d by men, 

And his good ways, by many quite forsook.) 

Do’st thou thyself (more than all men) abhor? 

(Mark that, my friend, ’tis worthy your regard, 

Some who their neighbours loathe , themselves admire! 
And say stand by, presume not to approach, 






123 


Lest you my holy garments should defile, 

Their hearts with pride, and self complaisance swoIn$ 
Hut what saith God? The proud I do abhor, 

And their proud deeds in anger will reward; 

But look with favour on the broken heart, 

And dwell with him in love, who is contrite, 

- His spirit to revive, and broken heart to bind.} 

But to return,—one question more I ask, 

Say, dost thou strive through grace to follow Christ, 
Through evil fame, and good report, and pour 
Thy humble pray’r to him for help against 
Thyself, the worst of all thy foes? If so, 

Thou art an heir of life . Thy title’s clear. 

For heirs of wrath , (the dead in sin) can’t move, 

Nor feel, nor fear, nor love, nor strive ’gainst sin, 

Nor know the Shepherd’s voice, nor follow him, 

No more than corpses from their graves can rise, 



No more than man, beneath the foaming flood can live. 
Or beasts, with the aspiring eagle soar; 

No more, than can the rampant lion fierce, 

Be with the spider’s slender web enchain’d, 

Or rocks of adamant, of bulk immense, 

Be with a flexile feather cleft in twain; 

No more than tones divinely sweet, can charm 
(Though wisely sung,) the adder’s deafen’d ear, 

Or Afric’s sable sons their colour change, 

And leopards wild, their native spots expunge, 


Then fear ye not, ye that in Zion mourn, 
Your lamentation shall to joy be turn’d, 

Though each himself despise. God hails you blest 
Jls of immortal life, the rightful heirs! 




124 


But 0! my reader, if thou a stranger art, 

To this good work of grace upon thy soul, 

Thou art, as all, alas! by nature are, 

An heir of wrath, the just desert of sin. 

May He , who can, your state to you make known, 
Dispose your heart his counsel to regard, 

And good instruction from his word receive, 

That in your latter end you may be wise; 

But to be wise, thou must become a fool, 

Thy wisdom and thy righteousness renounce, 

And refuge take in him, who died for sin, 

That sinners, chief of sinners, might be sav’d. 

No other name beneath the heav’ns is given, 
Whereby a sinner must, or can be sav’d. 

Whoe'er in him believes from wrath is free, 

But he that don’t believe must die the death. 

Faith doth by hearing come; then hear the word 
And dig for knowledge as for treasure hid; 

For he that findeth wisdom, findeth life, 

And of the Lord free favour doth obtain, 

F/en life eternal, as his sov’reijm s;ift. 

Through Christ his Son, the Saviour of the lost. 


THE JOYFUL SOUND, 

AND THE HAPPINESS OP THOSE "WHO KNOW IT. 

Good is the word of the Lord. Psa. lxxxix. 15. Isa. xxxix. 8. 

Blest are the favour’d souls, both bond and free, 
Learned, or rude, or rich, or poor, who know 
(Not those who hear alone, but those who know) 




125 


The glorious gospel’s sweet and joyful sound. 

Which as a means in great Jehovah’s hand. 

Sets forth the Saviour crucified for sin, 

And liberty proclaims to captive souls. 

The prison opens to the soul that’s bound, 

And health and cure to the diseased brings; 

That binds the broken heart by sin oppress’d, 

And comfort speaks to all who mourn for sin; 

That makes the spirit glad which lowly stoops. 

In heaviness extreme, beneath a load of guilt, 

By making known the pardon of a God. 

That succours tempted souls, when own'd of God , 
And strengthens feeble knees, and lifts the hands 
And drooping head, which like a bulrush bows, 
Oppress’d with sense of sin, perceiv’d and felt. 

This joyful sound the word of truth and grace, 
The wanderers from the fold of Christ reclaims, 

And brings them back, with broken hearts and bones, 
Heals their backslidings foul, and God reveals, 

As slow to anger, pard’ning those he loves, 

Who loathe themselves as chief of sinners vile. 

It gives assurance to the man who feels 
The plague of his own heart (the thorn that wounds) 
That in his need, the grace and strength of Christ, 
Shall be sufficient to preserve his soul. 

Such is the glorious gospel of the blessed God; 
That gospel Christ and his apostle’s preach’d, 

And that, which ministers of Christ stdl preach; 
Good news to guilty men, which loud proclaims 
The Lord’s anointed Son as Saviour of the lost , 

Who liv’d despis’d by men, and died to save 
K 2 




126 


That chosen flock, which to his charge was given; 
For them a servant he became, beneath 
His Father’s righteous law, which he fulfill’d, 
And bore its curse upon the ’cursed tree; 

When he could say, as none beside e’er could, 
That such his sorrows were, as man ne’er felt, 
For he the crimes of many bore, and wrath 
Proportion’d justly to their dread desert. 

And made an open shew before the sun, 

Of all his foes, and bow’d his head in death; 

But speedy rose a victor o’er the grave, 

And at his chariot wheels the spoiler dragg’d, 
And reassum’d his ancient rightful throne. 

There still he sits in majesty divine, 

And sways his sceptre o’er the world he made, 
As head supreme o’er all things to the church, 
That he might life eternal give to all 
The Father chose, and gave him to redeem 
Fromev’ry evil, with his precious blood. 

O may this gospel far and wide be spread, 

And God the Holy Ghost, confirm the same, 

That faith in Jesus may by hearing come, 

And chief of sinners pass from death to life, 

And on , and to him live, who died for them, 

T he Just and Holy One, for the unjust. 

Thou, Lord, in sov’reign mercy gave the word. 
Rich with the blood and labours of thy Son. 

O let the number it proclaims be great, 

And cause them to and fro with zeal to run, 

That knowledge of thy way may be increas’d, 

Till thy salvation shall be known on earth. 

E’en from the rising to the setting sun. 



127 


I 

0 teach thy servants to divide thy, word. 

And give to each what to tliemb'elhng. 

So shall the trumpet give a certain sound, 

And men be warn’d to flee from wrath to come, 
To that dear man (the Lord from heav’n who is 
By thee set forth, a hiding place from storms, 
And covert from the tempest of thy wrath, 

Who bore that tempest from thy vengeful hand, 
In body and in soul upon the cross. 

That , and that only, is the joyful sound, 

Which God for purposes so great doth own. 

And only they, the joyful sound do know , 

Who through grace have believ’d, and so believ’d , 
As in their hearts to feel, and happily possess, 
The great and glorious things thus briefly sung. 
On such the blessing of the Lord doth rest, 

And he that's blest of him is blest indeed, 

And shall be blest , the blessed God hath said, 
With ev’ry good, and life for evermore. 

Thus blest are they who know the joyful sound. 

But, O my soul, if they alone are blest, 

Where shall the sinner and ungodly stand, 

From whom the gospel of our God is hid, 

Whose minds are blinded, and whose hearts 
Are harden’d by the god of this vain world, 

In whose rebellious ways destruction is, 

And mis'ry great, foreboding wrath to come, 
Who never knew (in truth) the way of peace, 
Nor is the fear of God before their eyes. 


If suffer’d thus to die, alas! my soul, 






128 


They cannot stand in judgment, God hath said. 
But sink they must, to endless shame and woe. 

But stay thy hand, thou God of mercy stay, 
Cut not the fruitless cumb’rers down in wrath, 
But speak the word of grace, and bid them live, 
And that blest word for ever shall stand fast; 

For what thou do’st, thou it for ever doth, 

Thy will , nor /ore, no changes ever knew, 

And therefore ’tis, thy saints are ne’er consum’d, 
But live a life, as endless as their Lord!!! 


A SOLILOQUY, 

ON THE CRUCIFIXION, RESURRECTION, AND ASCEN¬ 
SION OF CHRIST. 

As a man thinketh in his heart , so is he. —Prov. xxiii. 7. 


Think on that solemn, solemn day, my soul, 
When God his glitt’ring sword of justice ’woke 
Against the Shepherd of his chosen flock, 

(Which in his soul the pains of hell infix’d,) 

And his anointed Son in wrath cut off! 

When earth convuls’d to its deep centre quak’d. 
And heav’n’s bright orb of day in sackcloth clad, 
Hid his resplendent beams, and three long hours 
The earth in gloomy darkness veil’d, (asham’d 
To view the horrid deed, when wicked men 
The Saviour slew, and hung him on a tree!) 

When yawning graves gave up the slumb’ring dead, 
And rocks of adamant were rent in twain, 

When dire amazement seiz’d the priestly tribe, 




129 


Appall’d their hearts, and turn’d their faces pale, 
I o see the temple’s gorgeous veil untouch’d 
By mortal hands, from top to bottom rent! 

Think, O my soul, what caus’d that tragic scene, 
And with humility and shame reflect 
Twas Sin! that fruitful source of human ills, 

V\ hich God insulted on his awful throne, 

And call’d for vengeance on the guilty race! 


But think again, my soul, and wond’ring view, 

The amazing love of God to guilty man. 

’Twas wondrous love!—He spared not his Son, 

But freely for the guilty gave him up 

To die beneath his curse, the just for the unjust! 

Herein is love—love passing thought of man, 

Not that we loved God, but He lov’d us! 

My soul with gratitude unfeign’d reflect 
On him who left (that thou might never die) 

His inaccessible high throne of light, 

And in his grace immense, though rich, became 

Abjectly poor, and had not where to lay 

His blessed head, though he had .all things made, 

And angels worshipp’d him as Lord of all! 

This was his right, and his great Father’s will! 

But man dar’d to despise, and to reject, 

And treat the Lord with scorn, whom heav’n ador’d! 

A man of sorrows he became—Sorrows 
Such as man ne’er knew, and with grief intense, 

From God and man , acquainted was his soul. 

For thus the prophet spake: *‘It pleas’d the Lord to bruise 







130 


And put his spotless soul to grief profound,^ 5 
To make his life an offering for sin, 

Though sin, nor guile, was never found in Him! 

To men who pluck’d the hair, he gave his cheek, 
From spitting and from shame, his sacred face 
He never hid, and to the smiters gave his back, 

Who plough’d (in wrath) long furrows there, and deep, 
And in their malice shed his precious blood! 

O love unsearchable, than death more strong, 

Which floods of wrath immense could never drown* 

The law he magnified, and bore its curse, 

Finish’d transgression thus, and made an end 
Of sin, and for lost man’s iniquity 
Reconciliation made, and brought in 
A righteousness as lasting as his throne. 

With which the Eternal Father is well pleas’d, 

In which believing souls are justified! 

Solomon the wise, hath truly said, “as 
In his heart man thinketh, e’en so he is.” 

Whether (of Christ) his thoughts be good or ill. 

Then think again, my soul, and think in faith, 

That he who died upon the accursed tree, 

And spoiled principalities and pow’rs, 

Soon burst the barriers of the greedy grave, 

And sprang victorious from the gates of death. 

Thus prov’d himself to be the Son of God, 

With pow’r to give, and take his life again, 

To save from sin and hell his chosen seed! 



131 


What shall l render,O my soul, to God 
W ho gave his Son; and to the Son who died 
(To save from wrath to come, so vile a worm;) 

And to the Spirit ever blest, who doth, 

The Father and the Son, to men reveal, 

One dying /or, the other pard’ning sin, 

O may I love , with heart, and mind, and strength. 

* ^ o’ 

And yield obedience uniform and free, 

In newness of the Spirit, as a Son. 

Again, my soul, thy risen Saviour trace, 

In contemplation sweet (as aided by 

The inspir’d page) through all the various steps 

That led from misery supreme, to that 

Blest height, where thrones and heav’nly pow’rs, 

Are subject to his sway! The Son of God, 

With pow’r declar’d, (by rising from the dead) 

His high commands to his apostles gave, 

To go into the world, and freely give, 

W r hat they from him, so freely had receiv’d, 

To preach his glorious gospel, and baptize 
In the great name of the great sacred Three, 

And teach poor sinners sav’d, what to observe. 

As sheep ’mongst rav’nous wolves, he sent them fortf 
Be wise (he said) as subtle serpents are, 

And harmless as the faithful turtle-dove, 

And lo! (the omnipresent Saviour said,) 

I with you present am, in all your straits, 

As sun and shield always, till time shall end! 

Thus having said, the Saviour God went up, 

With sound of trump, in majesty divine, 




132 


To his high throne, (forerunner of his church) 

In sight of his astonish’d, favour’d friends. 

Captive he led in chains his vanquish’d foes, 

And gifts receiv’d for poor rebellious men, 

That God the Lord might with them ever dwell! 

O think, my soul, on grace so rich, so free, 

So sovereign, suitable, and undeserved. 

Her everlasting gates heav’n open’d wide, 

And him receiv’d with high acclaim, as King 
Of kings, the Lord of Hosts in battle strong. 

Then rang those hapny realms with hallelujahs loud, 
To him who liv’d despis'd, and died to save. 

Who soon will re-appear to judge the world, 

And crown with righteousness divine, all those 
(Ofev’ry name) who his appearing love! 

Come quickly, come dear friend of sinners lost, 
And thou, my soul, cleave to thy Lord in faith, 

And laud him Lord of all, thy only hope, 

The first f the last, God ever blest, Amen! 


CONCLUSION. 


And now, my reader kind, if truth you know, 
And truth hath made you free, one boon I ask; 
Beseech with me, the Spirit of our God, 

The truths I’ve feebly wrote to own, 

That men with one accord may Christ confess, 
God over all, for ever bless’d, Amen. 



The fu*3t, the last, eternally the same, 

The omnipresent and omniscient God, 

All potent too, who to the utmost saves. 

In righteousness he speaks, and travels in 
The greatness of his strength, mighty to save. 
Thus speaks the prophet of the Lord: Behold! 
With arm well fit to rule, and hand of might, 

The Lord our God will soon appear! (to save 
Ilis own, and crush his stubborn foes) his work 
Before him is, and with him too, his great 
Reward: He like a shepherd good, shall feed 
His purchas’d flock, the price of his own blood: 
(The Almighty Father’s sovereign gift of love!) 
He’ll kindly gather in his arms the lambs, 

And bear them near his heart, from harm secure! 
With care, and gentleness divine he’ll lead 
Those of his flock belov’d, who are with young, 

As to himself most dear, and he to them. 

(For love of God made known, doth love produce, 
He lov’d us first, (said John,) and we love him! 
Creator he of all that lives, or moves, 

And ail at rest, (if such his works contain) 

In heaven, or earth, or in the deep profound, 

Who all things doth uphold, and governs well 
The complicated works of his own hands, 

Which to his glory tend, who made them all. 
Where his eternal pow'r is clearly seen, 

For light ineffable proclaims the God, 

Who on his works has writ his glorious name! 

And left rebellious man without excuse,. 

Who do not him confess, the Mighty God, 

And worship give in spirit and in truth, 

As thou, Almighty Father, hast ordain’d! 

To those, who warn’d of God his judgments see, 

A ad seek from wrath deserv’d a safe retreat, 

To such a hiding place he is from storms, 



From tempest dire, a covert sure, and shade 
Of rocks stupendous, in a weary land, 

And in a place that’s dry, as rivers full 
Of water, cooling to the thirsty soul. 

But some, through unbelief, make him a rock 
Of great offence: and on that stumbling stone, 

In blindness fall, and crush their souls to death! 

So righteous Father, in thv awful sight, 

In mercy, and in wrath, it seemed good, 

Thy truth to hide from men inflate with pride, 

And unto babes in grace reveal thy son! 

Next may the Spirit of unerring truth 
Teach saints to know God’s love is like himself, 
Which knows no end, unchangeably the same. 

From hell Christ did redeem those whom of old 
He lov’d; and whom in time from sin he calls,. 

To know his name, and put their trust in him, 

And live his praise before the sons of men; 

Who though they oft offend, he never leaves 
But visits with a rod, and makes them mourn, 

And loathe themselves, for all the ills they’ve done. 
So grace, free grace divine, triumphant reigns 
Through righteousness, unto eternal life, 

(The sov’reign gift of God as death’s the fruit of sin) 
By Christ the Lord, who liv’d, and dy’d, and rose! 

Nor shall the gates of hell find cause to boast, 
That to their wish their malice hath prevail’d, 
Against the flock of Christ! lie lives , and they , 

Who by him were redeem’d and call’d, shall live , 
Himself hath said; nor can his word e’er fail! 
l am the Lord thy God, Jehovah said, 

From Egypt’s land of darkness and of toil, 

My purpose is, that you no God but me 
Shall know; for none but me a Saviour is! 


135 


Vet will God his honor vindicate and shew 
That sin he hates, though in a Son most dear. 

And pleasant child, as Ephraim of old. 

But while he hates their sins, he will not give 
Mis foes their will, nor banish those he loves. 
Repentance kindles, and his bowels move, 

And earnestly he doth remember those 

’Gainst whom he speaks, and their backslidings heals!* 

Such are the ways of God! so far above 
The ways of men; e’en those who know his name, 
Who oft through pride, unknowing of themselves? 
Self will’d, and emulous of human praise; 

(Regardless of liis will, who says, forgive, 

Restore, and to your arms receive, and love 
Confirm; as I, for sake of him who died, 

Have done!)—they say, stand by, we holier are 
Than thou, and scorn to own, as one of them 
The soul once fall’n, though now restor’d and heal’d, 
And all to feed the pride of prudes, or men 
Who little know of God, or of his gracious ways. 

But show too plain, (though unawares I hope,) 

Their tender mercies cruel, like th’ unjust; 

But thanks unfeign’d, and praise to God is due, 

All are not thus; there are, and not a few, 

Whose bosoms with compassion burn, to those 
Whom grace immense, recalls from ways of sin, 

Such honor God, and not disgrace themselves! 

Once more with me entreat, ye friends of truth, 
That Zion’s King, would own niy last essay, 

That humble subjects of his grace may learn, 

(From him who taught, as none beside e’er did) 

To see his will, in his appointments wise, 

And be baptiz’d, as those who have believ’d, 

And tasted that the Lord is good indeed! 



One Lord, one faith, and one Baptism thus, 
Through grace deceiv’d, they love, possess, and own 
And like their Lord, all righteousness fulfil; 

And as he strength affords him glorify, 

To put to silence those who evil speak, 

of his good ways, the ways of truth and grace. 

Thus own’d of God, my efforts can’t be vain, 

Nor labour lost, in Jesus’ righteous cause. 

Tho’ some with high disdain, incas’d in steel 
And adamant, my feeble strokes may scorn, 

And in their rampant pride, snuff up the wind 
Of pestilential errors poisonous breath, 

And set their mouths ’gainst heav’ns eternal King! 

ill he, or in his mercy, or his wrath, 

Their rebel souls subdue beneath his feet. 

All knees to him must bow—all tongues confess, 
That he is Lord of all his hands have made, 

To his high glory, who hath thus decreed, 

And set him King of kings, on Zion’s hill! 

Ye sons of men be wise and kiss the Son, 

Lest haply ye his kindled wrath should feel, 

And perish from his ways, beneath his rod. 

Thrice bless’d are they, by grace, who in him trust, 
And on him live, devoted to his will. 

O may the author of these broken thoughts, 

And all who read the same, or love the truths 
Therein contain’d, be guided in his strength, 
(Through evil fame, and good report,) unto 
His holy habitation in the skies, 

His blissful face in righteousness to see, 

And bear his likeness, fully satisfied, 

And God, through endless days, be all in all! 


Air 

To those who have read the preceding pages . 


Permit me, my reader, at the close of this little, 
hut, I hope, not unimportant work, inasmuch as it 
treats of things relating to, and inseparably connect¬ 
ed with the never dying soul: and what shall it profit 
a man if he gain the world and lose it? vrrily nothing: 
permit me then, I say, respectfully and affectionately 
to ask you, what have been your feelings and reflec¬ 
tions on the perusal of the foregoing pages? Have 
they been of that nature, as to make self and sin more 
loathsome, and Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God, who 
died the just, for the unjust, and in whom all the pro¬ 
mises of God are yea and Amen, more precious, or at 
least, more desirable? The judgment of my readers 
will be very various, no doubt. Some, it is feared, 
will treat w r hat has been advanced with scorn, as,in 
all probability, they do the word of God itself, frdm 
whence my various matter is drawn. The plainness 
of its dress—the want of those fascinating embellish¬ 
ments, that the Wisdom of this world furnishes, offends 
w hat they vainly consider their ref ried, but which ii, 
in truth, their vitiated taste . A precious Saviour has 
always been disallowed of men, though chosen of God, 
and precious to him that believes, and the truth of 
God, and the ordinances of God, and the people of 
God, and every thing that does, in truth, belong to 
the spiritual kingdom of Christ Jesus, has always 
been lightly esteemed by men dead in sin, but whatever, 
under a shew of religion, is of man’s device, is palat¬ 
able to men. And such would do well to consider, 
that he who scorns the truth , as it is in Jesus, must 
bear his burden. If such, like Pilate, should say. 





138 


Whnt is truth? I will answer in the language of the 
inimitable Cowper— 

(i What’s that which brings contempt upon a book 
And him who writes it?-- 


Tell me —and 1 will tell thee what is truth. 

Others of my readers, whose minds are blinded with 
error and prejudice, by the agency of Satan, “the God 
of this world 5 ’—2 Cor. iv.4.—shut their eyes against 
the light, like the moles and the hats, when involun¬ 
tarily brought before the splendor of the meridian 
sun, and the shafts of truth, (though drawn from the 
quiver of God,) being thrown by such a feeble hand, 
rebound from their adamantine hearts, as the blunted 
spear from the impenetrable shield of Achilles, or 
scales of leviathan—but whoever hates and shuns the 
light, is in imminent, danger of stumbling on the dark 
mountains—Jer. xiii. 16.—and whoever mocks at 
God and truth, is in danger of having his bonds made 
strong—Isa. xxvi. 22. But I would fain hope, that 
he who opens the eyes of the blind, and breaks the 
obdurate heart, may in some happy instances bring 
down the proud looks of the scorner, and cause the 
Mind, (who grope for the w all at noon day—Isa. lix. 
10.) to see out of obscurity and out of darkness, and 
whenever such see a little, though only men (as it 
were) as trees walking, they will covet more, and pray: 
0 Lord, open thou mine eyes, that 1 may behold the 
wpnders of thy word—happy men, who from the 
heart so pray—they will not abide in darkness, for 
the Lord leadeih the blind by away that they know 
not, and makes darkness light before them—Isa. 
xlii. 16.—and to accomplish such glorious ends, I 
feel happily persuaded, that no instrument or means 
can be w eak in His hands, who ordaineth strength 
(even) in the mouth of babes, to perfect praise, and 
still the enemy and the avenger.—Ps. viii. 2. 






139 


ai any rate, l hope, that through an unction from * 
the Holy One, poor sinners, under the awakening in¬ 
fluence of the Spirit of God, will find something in 
these pages, that will say to them (as an index point¬ 
ing to him who died without the gate) this is the way, 
walk ye in it—and which may encourage them to 
“Stand still and see the salvation of God.” 

“Stand still , says one, that’s easy sure, 

’Tis what 1 always do; 

Mistaken soul, be not deceiv’d, 

This is not meant for you. 

“Not driven by fear, nor drawn by love. 

Nor yet by duty led, 

Lie still you do, and never move, 

For who can move that’s dead. 

“But for a living soul to stand, 

By thousand dangers scar’d, 

And fell destruction close at hand, 

O that indeed is hard.” Hart. 

And while I would cherish a hope, that such cha¬ 
racters as I have already named, may be benefited by 
what they are here presented with, 1 would also hope, 
that such as have tasted that the Lord is gracious, 
who may condescend to peruse my treatment of the 
foregoing subjects, whatever may be their exercises, 
or present state of mind, whether on Pisgah’s mount, 
or in the valley of humiliation, or if so unhappy as 
to be in the ditch, where their own clothes abhor 
them, 1 hope I say, that they may find good. I am 
fully persuaded, that however feeble the execution of 
this little work, there is something that is suited to 
most cases, that each may have their portion in sea¬ 
son, through the good will of him, whose blessing 
maketh rich, and addetli no sorrow therewith. I hope 
therefore that these efforts of my pen (though feeble) 
will not be in vain; but that hereby a dear and almigh . 


140 


ty Redeemer may appear with new charms, as “the 
chiefest often thousand and altogether lovely. Gain 
has never been my object; but to do good by the pro¬ 
mulgation of divine truth . And altho’ the diction of 
this little production may not to some be the most 
pleasing, being homely, yet it may be the most profit¬ 
able; “words easy to be understood, are certainly the 
best words to convey religious truthsin, for “to the poor 
the gospel is preached,” and for them also it is w rote. 

No pretensions are here urged to any thing beyond 
theological correctness, at least, that approximation to 
correctness which, while it solicits a friendly correc¬ 
tion 9 challenged a hostile refutation . 

As to the poetic pieces, (if they will bear such an 
appellation) 1 will only say the same as of the prose, 
that they contain scriptural ideas , gospel truths , and 
sound experience , and like the prose, have afforded 
me both pleasure and profit in the composition, and 
my hope is, that my readers may reap the same ad¬ 
vantage; and in that hope I will close, with a few 
lines of the truly excellent and well instructed Mr. 
Hart, of whom his biographer has truly said, “He 
preached Evangelical truths practically, and practi¬ 
cal truths Evangelically.” 

“ And now the work is done, 

Without much pains or cost, 

1'he author’s merit none, 

And therefore none his boast; 

He only claims whate’er’s amiss, 

Alas! how great a share is his. 

“Some time it took to beat, 

And hunt for tinkling sound, 

But th* rich savory meet 
Was very quickly found: 

For ev’ry truly Christian thought, 

Was by the God of Jacob brought.” 

Even so , Jlnten 


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